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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
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BEAUTIES 


0 F 

MODERN  ARCHITECTURE 


ILLUSTRATED  BY 


FORTY-EIGHT  ORIGINAL  PLATES, 


DESIGNED  EXPRESSLY  FOR  THIS  WORK. 


BY  MIN ARD  LAFEVER,  ARCHITECT. 


THIRD  EDITION. 


NEW-YORK: 

D.  APPLETON  &.  CO.,  200,  BROADWAY. 


Entered,  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  by 
D.  APPLETON  & CO. 

In  the  Cle.k's  Office  of  the  L istrict  Court  of  the  Southern  District  of  New-York. 


n.  Lcmvio,  PRINT  Elt,| 
72,  Vesey-st.,  N Y.  J 


ccf.tLn  LioiiARi 


P 11  E F A C E . 


Notwithstanding  the  many  works  which  have  heretofore  been  pub- 
lished on  the  subject  of  Architecture,  there  has  none  yet  appeared,  intended 
exclusively  for  the  operative  workman.  It  is  therefore  thought  proper,  to 
present  to  the  industrious  and  ingenious,  a book  of  original  designs,  with 
plans,  elevations,  sections,  and  technical  terms  associated  therewith,  which 
will  enable  him  to  become  a complete  master  of  his  business,  more  systema- 
tically than  by  any  other  plan  yet  adopted,  and  more  particularly  so,  when 
studied  in  connection  with  his  practical  pursuits. 

It  has,  on  all  occasions,  been  admitted  that  experience  enables  the  genius 
of  man  to  advance  and  improve  the  subjects  of  his  pursuits.  And  if  such 
favour  these  efforts,  the  patrons  of  former  late  works  may,  with  propriety, 
expect  to  be  perfected  by  the  perusal  of  this,  which  is  the  result  of  experience 
and  study,  in  the  various  departments  of  the  science,  the  practice  of  building, 
and  Architecture  in  general. 

At  this  era  it  would  be  an  insurmountable  task  to  enter  into  all  the  parti- 
culars necessary  to  gratify  many  who  may  have  occasion  to  peruse  this  work. 
Yet  it  is  due  to  the  labour  bestowed  in  designing  a work  which  requires  all 
the  intellectual  powers  possible,  not  to  prejudice  the  public  mind  previous  to 
examining  the  whole  matter  u fairly  and  justly.” 

Believing  those  into  whose  hands  this  work  may  fall,  to  be  that  part  of 
the  community  that  will  discreetly  examine,  and  give  credit  where  it  is  due,  I 
with  satisfaction  submit  to  them  the  result  of  my  labour,  for  their  prudent 
and  careful  examination.  And  after  which,  if  their  approval  be  the  result, 
it  will  follow  that  their  patronage  will  be  enlisted  in  behalf  of  The  Beauties 
of  Modern  Architecture. 


MTNARD  LAFEVER. 


A. 


- ' 


- 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


EXTRACTS  FROM  ELME’s  DICTIONARY. 

At  the  commencement  of  this  publication,  historical  matter  was  deemed 
unimportant ; but,  after  a more  mature  consideration,  it  is  estimated  as  being 
of  utility  to  the  practical  workman,  in  giving  him  more  magnified  and 
pleasing  ideas  of  bis  profession,  as  well  as  to  discover  that  architecture  is 
more  than  a mere  mechanical  art  or  profession,  and  to  prove  to  him  that  tire 
art  of  design  requires  an  exclusive  and  thorough  study.  And  for  the  use 
and  benefit  of  the  patrons,  the  following  admirable  historical  account  and  de- 
scription is  selected  : 

11  Architecture,  Greek ; architecture  Latin.]  The  art 

or  science  of  devising  or  d;  awing  designs  for  buildings.  The  name  of  this 
branch  of  the  fine  arts  is  derived  from  chief,  and  tsktouci,  and  is 

the  art  of  building  according  to  rules  and  proportions.  Among  all  the  arts, 
the  progeny  of  pleasure  and  necessity,  which  men  have  invented  to  alle- 
viate the  pains  of  life,  and  to  transmit  their  names  to  posterity,  a very  high 
and  distinguished  situation  must  be  assigned  to  architecture,  whether  for 
its  antiquity,  utility,  or  beauty.  It  is  both  a fine  art  and  a science,  and  will 
be  considered  as  such  in  this  dictionary;  referring  to  distinct  treatises  for 
details  of  its  mechanical  and  scientific  parts  of  building  and  construction. 
The  distinguishing  char  act, eristics  of  a good  style  are,  order,  convenience 
of  interior  distribution , beauty  of  form,  regularity,  and  a good  taste 
in  the  intention,  selection,  or  application  of  ornaments.  Architecture  is 
again  divisible  into  three  branches,  civil,  military , and  naval ; the  former 
of  which  only  will  be  treated  of  in  this  work.  The  style  of  civil  archi- 
tecture differs  among  different  people,  and  among  t he  same  people  of  a dif- 
ferent era.  Among  the  people  who  have  given  names  to  styles  in  archi- 
tecture, are  the  Egyptian,  Babylonian,  Persian,  Indian , Phoenician , 
Hebraic  or  Jewish,  Greek,  Roman,  Etruscan,  Moorish,  Arabian,  Saxon , 
English , Gothic , Chinese,  Saracenic , Turkish.  And  among  the  ckarao- 


6 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


teristics  resulting  from  different  eras  are  the  best  ages  of  the  antique,  of  the 
lower  empire,  and  modern  architecture. 

“ Architecture  is  both  a science  and  an  art,  and  has  been  cultivated  in 
either  way  with  great  but  doubtful  success  ; the  aimer  at  mere  science  often 
degenerating  into  a skilful  artizan,  and  the  boaster  of  picturesque  skill  into 
a pictorial  theorist. 

“Without  science,  architecture  is  an  effeminate  and  useless  pastime; 
and  without  the  higher  feelings  of  art,  a mere  constructor  of  huts  and 
cabins. 

“ The  scientific  part  of  the  art  embraces  and  requires  geometry,  arithmetic, 
and  every  branch  of  the  mathematics,  mechanics,  chemistry,  mineralogy, 
practical  philosophy  in  general ; which  are  to  be  applied  with  judgment  to 
composition,  construction,  design,  and  execution. 

“ The  artist-like  part  of  architecture  soars  to  the  sublimest  heaven  of 
human  invention.  To  the  skill  of  the  practical  mathematician,  mechanic, 
chymist,  philosopher,  must  be  added  the  genius  and  feelings  of  the  artist,  to 
go  towards  the  composition  of  a Palladio  or  a Wren. 

“ Architecture,  as  an  art,  stands  entirely  alone  and  distinctive  from  every 
other  art,  and  is  essentially  the  most  original  of  them  all.  It  is  not  imitative 
of  originality,  like  painting  and  sculpture,  nor  imitative  of  imitations,  like 
engraving  ; but  if  it  resembles  either  in  its  mechanical  part,  it  is  in  its  theo- 
retical resemblance  to  music.  Architecture  is  fundamentally  original,  and 
shows  the  power  of  man’s  invention  more  than  any  art,  and  equally  with 
any  science.  It  calls  in  the  aid  of  all  the  other  arts,  uses  and  rejects  them 
by  turns,  and  has  been  in  every  age  the  fosterer,  protector,  and  promulgator 
of  them  all. 

“ Architecture  will,  therefore,  be  considered  both  as  an  art  and  as  a science 
in  this  work,  which  is  addressed  more  immediately  to  the  amateur  and 
student  than  to  the  professor,  and  also  to  the  inquiring  cognoscenti  and  per- 
sons of  taste,  whose  prospects  or  situations  in  life  may  render  them  patrons 
of  the  arts. 

“ Architecture,  being  the  first  and  earliest  of  the  arts,  embraces  of  necessity 
in  itself  a general  knowledge  of  the  critical  or  philosophical  part  of  fine  art 
in  general,  which,  thus  forming  the  taste  on  the  purest  models,  is  best  fitted  to 
enlarge  the  mind  and  prepare  it  for  the  reception  of  the  laws  and  governing 
principles  of  the  whole  circle  of  the  fine  arts.  It  is  an  art  which  has  ‘ un- 
doubtedly a dignity  that  no  other  art  possesses,  whether  we  consider  it  in 
its  rudest  state,  occupied  in  raising  a hut,  or  as  practised  in  a cultivated 
nation,  in  the  erection  of  a magnificent  and  ornamented  temple.’ 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


7 


u A recent  critic*  beautifully  says,  that 1 nothing,  certainly,  can  be  more 
destructive  to  the  hopes  of  an  enlightened  age  of  fame  among  remote  pos- 
terity, than  the  decay  of  an  art  whose  monuments  are  so  lasting,  and  whose 
triumphs  are  so  sure  of  continuance.  Its  venerable  relics  convey  to  us  all 
we  know  of  the  mighty  nations  long  sunk  into  oblivion.  Among  piles  which 
seem  only  to  have  partaken  of  the  decay  and  shared  in  the  revolutions  of 
nature,  we  feel  transported  through  long  vistas  of  the  short-lived  generations 
of  man,  into  the  glories  of  the  earliest  nations  of  the  world  ; we  catch  the 
mysterious  spirit  of  patriarchal  times,  and  image  to  ourselves  among  these 
romantic  solitudes  shepherd-kings  propounding  their  pure  ordinances,  simple 
tribes  adoring  the  God  of  heaven,  and  untutored  bards  catching  inspiration 
in  all  its  wildness  from  the  skies.  We  must  leave  such  memorials  of  our 
glory  behind  us,  as  can  be  shaken  only  with  the  pyramids  of  Egypt  and  the 
pillars  of  the  universe.’  But  what  a contrast  do  the  frail  memorials  of 
our  times  present  to  those  immortal  structures  ! and  how  is  the  art  patronized 
now  in  comparison  with  those  of  our  Charleses  and  Annes,  which  produced  a 
Jones  and  a Wien,  a Whitehall,  a St.  Paul’s,  and  the  solid  churches  of  Lon- 
don after  the  fire  ! 

“ 1 All  who  feel  interested  by  the  substantial  progress  of  the  fine  arts,  all 
who  have  feelings  to  admire  the  sacred  solemnity  and  the  awful  grandeur  of 
those  venerable  piles  which  the  genius  of  Egypt,  of  Greece,  of  Rome,  and 
of  the  middle  ages,  have  left  us,  must  be  deeply  interested  by  a discussion  of 
the  means  by  which  tliat  spirit  maybe  revived,  which  raised  these  works  of 
unfading  enchantment,  and  which  now  seems  slumbering  beneath  them.’ 
The  season  is  most  apt  for  a proper  awakening  ; and  we  may  indulge  the 
hope  that  both  our  patrons  and  our  architects  may  exert  themselves 
with  effect  to  give  dignity  and  stability  to  our  national  structures. 

“ Architecture,  considered  as  the  art  of  building  or  construction,  has  three 
principal  characters  or  primary  divisions,  namely:  civil,  military,  and  naval. 
The  former,  civil  architecture,  is  the  subject  of  the  present  article,  and  may  be 
subdivided  into  three  principal  classes  or  orders,  as  monumental , sacred , 
and  domestic. 

“I.  Monumental  Architecture  may  be  almost  called  the  primitive 
branch  of  the  art,  for  the  rude  stone  erected  in  the  simplest  manner  is  a primi- 
tive monument. 

“ In  making  a sketch  of  the  history  of  architecture  among  the  most  ancient 
nations  of  the  world,  we  find  them  almost  invariably  alike.  The  primitive 


In  Valpy’s  new  Review. 


8 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


town,  or  incipient  city,  was  a number  of  low  straggling  huts,  scattered  about 
irregularly  according  to  the  caprice  of  each  proprietor,  built  with  turf  and 
rude  stones,  and  thatched  with  straw  or  reeds,  without  any  light  but  what 
they  received  by  a door  so  low  that  it  could  not  be  entered  upright.  The 
suburban  architecture  of  the  best  towns  in  our  unhappy  sister  country,  Ire- 
land, is  a type  of  the  origin  of  the  art  in  the  most  ancient  times. 

“ Monumental  architecture,  in  its  most  ancient  practice,  is  scarcely  sepa- 
rated from  sacred  ; the  monumental  stone  became  an  altar,  and  it  is  easy  to 
conceive  the  rapid  progress  from  this  rude  and  simple  place  of  adoration  to 
the  deity  to  the  more  solemn  temple.  First  we  find  the  single  monumental 
stone,  reared  on  end,  commemorative  of  some  event,  or  testimonial  of  a treat}'’ 
or  boundary  of  property,  used  also  as  an  altar  of  sacrifice  or  offering  to  the 
deity.  This  becomes  surrounded  by  a pavement,  to  prevent  the  earth  from 
being  sodden  by  the  blood  of  the  animals  and  the  moisture  from  the  wet  offer- 
ings trodden  about  by  the  feet  of  the  primeval  priests.  The  next  step  is  to 
surround  the  sacred  precinct  with  a row  of  rude  upright  stones,  such  as  are 
seen  at  the  present  day  in  various  parts  of  Ireland,  which,  being  covered 
over  to  protect  the  sacrifices,  priests,  and  offerings,  from  the  sun  and  rain, 
becomes  a primeval  temple  with  its  roof,  its  cell,  and  its  altar. 

“ Such  examples  of  monumental  architecture  have  been  found  in  all  coun- 
tries, have  been  consecrated  to  every  religious  creed,  and  are  used  to  com- 
memorate all  sorts  of  actions  ; and  to  this  day,  in  Ireland,  the  memory  of  a 
murder  is  always  preserved  by  a rude  heap  of  stones,  every  passer-by  con- 
tributing one.  These  monuments,  such  as  altar-stones,  cromlechs,  druidical 
circles,  cairns,  &c.,  bear  the  genuine  characters  of  simplicity  which  infant 
societies  and  primitive  religion  impress  at  their  origin  on  every  thing  connect- 
ed with  them.  An  able  French  antiquary,  M.  Mazois,  says,  ‘ a few  stones, 
either  naturally  rising  above  the  soil,  or  placed  without  art  in  solitary  spots  in 
the  depth  of  forests  or  on  the  summits  of  hills,  were  the  first  altars.’  Such 
are  common  in  every  part  of  our  island,  except  where  the  demon  innovation 
has  swept  them  away.  These  primitive  monuments  soon  became  sanctified 
by  the  veneration  of  the  people,  and  were  received  as  emblems  of  the  divinity. 
Such  rustic  monuments  are  found  in  every  country  in  the  world.  The 
Arabs  and  other  nations  of  the  East  represented  their  gods  by  rough  un- 
hewn stones.  It  was  even  considered  as  sacrilegious  by  the  Persians  to  give 
them  the  human  form. 

“ The  Greeks  themselves  who  were  so  well  acquainted  with  the  art  of 
embellishing  every  tiling,  originally  represented  their  divinities  under  the 
form  of  simple  stones.  In  the  time  of  Pausanias,  there  were  still  to  be  seen, 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


9 


near  Pheree,  thirty  blocks  of  stone  consecrated  to  the  thirty  gods  who  were 
the  earliest  objects  of  Grecian  adoration.  Even  Love  and  the  Graces  had  at 
first  no  other  images.  In  the  time  of  Titus,  Venus  was  still  at  Paphos  but  a 
simple  pyramidal  stone. 

“ Thus  Greece,  the  country  of  the  fine  arts,  presents  us,  even  in  the 
epoch  of  her  splendour,  with  a number  of  these  primitive  monuments. 
We  find  that  they  were  equally  venerated  by  almost  every  other  peo- 
ple. The  Romans,  in  the  time  of  Numa,  entertained  the  same  notions 
as  the  Persians  with  regard  to  the  manner  of  representing  the  deity. 
It  was  by  them  also  deemed  an  impiety  to  impart  to  their  gods  a mortal 
shape ; simple  boundary  stones  were  their  images,  and  the  name  of 
Jupiter  Terminus  is  a proof  of  the  existence  of  that  ancient  usage. 
Egypt  was  formerly  covered  with  those  sacred  stones,  the  original  type 
of  which  is  still  manifest  in  the  pyramids ; those  haughty  and  too  silent 
depositories  of  Egyptian  mythology  are  only — so  to  speak — the  ennobled 
descendants  of  primitive  monuments.  In  short,  those  symbolical  stones  are 
to  be  seen  in  the  heart  of  Asia,  as  shall  be  hereafter  shown.  Kempfer 
declares  that  at  Japan,  they  are  even  yet  the  objects  of  the  veneration  of 
the  multitude. 

“Among  the  most  ancient  people  whose  history  has  reached  our  times, 
are  those  inhabitants  of  the  globe  who  lived  before  the  flood,  and  whose 
deeds  and  occupations  are  recorded  in  the  books  of  Moses.  The  history 
of  architecture,  considered  philosophically  and  as  connected  with  the  other 
arts  of  design,  with  science,  and  with  legislature,  is  a history  of  the  human 
mind.  It  bears  so  strong  an  impression  of  the  character  of  the  people  by 
whom  it  has  been  cultivated,  that  an  attentive  examination  of  its  origin 
and  progress  is  the  most  effectual  way  to  discover  the  genius,  and  manners, 
and  the  mental  characteristics  of  the  various  nations  of  the  world.  ‘Art,’ 
says  Wieland,  £ is  the  half  of  our  nature ; and  without  art  man  is  the 
most  miserable  of  animals.’ 

“Among  the  antediluvians,  architecture  could  not  have  made  much 
progress  as  a fine  art.  The  principal  objects  of  these  ancient  heroes  were 
the  chase  and  other  modes  of  providing  food  and  clothing  without  the 
labour  of  cultivating  the  soil.  Sanconiatho  says,  (apud  Euseb.  Pracp. 
Evang.  1.  i.,  c.  9.,  p.  35.)  that  ‘fishing  was  one  of  the  earliest  inventions 
which  the  ancients  attributed  to  their  heroes.’  The  Bible  and  Homer 
are  full  of  the  manners  of  our  earliest  ancestors.  Fishing,  hunting,  the 
care  of  their  flocks,  and,  in  later  times,  agriculture,  were  the  employments 
of  their  monarchs  and  heroes,  their  shepherd-kings.  Cookery,  washing. 

2 


10 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


making  garments,  and  other  domestic  business,  were  those  of  their  women 
of  rank,  their  princesses,  and  their  queens. 

“ The  history  of  architecture  before  the  flood,  although  it  forms  a 
large  portion  in  the  history  of  the  art  by  a French  author,  (Milan,)  fur- 
nishes but  few  authentic  facts.  The  great  historian  and  legislator  of  the 
Jews,  Moses,  has  only  related  those  leading  events  which  were  neces- 
sary to  his  history,  and  omitted  those  details  which  are  only  requisite  for  the 
gratification  of  curiosity. 

“ Our  great  philosopher,  Sir  William  Jones,  in  discoursing  of  this  great 
event,  the  deluge^  says,  ‘ the  sketch  of  antediluvian  history,  as  given  by 
most  ancient  historians  of  the  race  of  Adam,  in  which  we  find  many  dark 
passages,  is  followed  by  the  narrative  of  a deluge  which  destroyed  the  whole 
race  of  man  except  four  pairs  ; an  historical  fact,  admitted  as  true  by  every 
nation  to  whose  literature  we  have  access,  and  particularly  by  the  ancient 
Hindus,  who  have  allotted  a whole  purana  to  the  detail  of  that  event, 
which  they  relate  as  usual  in  symbols  or  allegories.  I concur  most  hearti- 
ly, says  this  learned  philosopher,  1 with  those  who  insist  that  in  proportion 
as  any  fact  mentioned  in  history  seems  repugnant  to  the  course  of  nature, 
or,  in  one  word,  miraculous , the  stronger  evidence  is  required  to  induce  a 
rational  belief  of  it ; but  we  hear  that  cities  have  been  overwhelmed 
by  eruptions  from  burning  mountains,  territories  laid  waste  by  hurri- 
canes, and  whole  islands  depopulated  by  earthquakes : if  then  we  look 
at  the  firmament  sprinkled  with  innumerable  stars,  wTe  conclude  by  a fair 
analogy  that  every  star  is  a sun,  attracting  like  ours  a system  of  inhabited 
planets ; and  if  our  ardent  fancy,  soaring  hand  in  hand  with  sound  rea- 
son, waft  us  beyond  our  visible  diurnal  sphere  into  regions  of  immensity, 
disclosing  other  celestial  expanses,  and  other  systems  of  suns  and  worlds  on 
all  sides  without  number  or  end,  we  cannot  but  consider  the  submersion  of 
our  little  spheroid  as  an  infinitely  less  event  in  respect  of  the  immeasura- 
ble universe,  than  the  destruction  of  a city  or  an  isle,  in  respect  of  this 
habitable  globe.  Let  a general  flood,  however,  be  supposed  improbable, 
in  proportion  to  the  magnitude  of  so  ruinous  an  event,  yet  the  concur- 
rent evidences  of  it  are  completely  adequate  to  the  supposed  improba- 
bility.’ 

“ The  state  of  mankind  immediately  after  this  general  deluge,  is  shown 
in  the  Mosaic  history.  The  families  of  Noah  which  emerged  from  the  ark, 
after  paying  their  grateful  adoration  to  the  Deity  who  had  preserved  them, 
in  order  to  perpetuate  their  race,  erected  an  altar  of  unhewn  stones,  and 
offered  sacrifice  thereon.  This  is  one  of  the  most  ancient  examples  of  post- 
diluvian monumental  architecture  on  record. 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


11 


“ The  descendants  of  Noah  remained  no  longer  united  in  one  society 
than  was  necessary  for  their  increase  and  security.  As  soon  as  they 
were  sufficiently  numerous,  they  dispersed  themselves  into  the  different  re- 
gions of  the  earth,  about  a century  and  a half  after  the  flood.  It  does 
not,  however,  appear  that  it  was  their  intention  at  first  to  separate  perma- 
nently, though  they  were  often  obliged  to  separate  in  search  of  subsistence. 

‘ With  this  view  they  formed  the  design  of  building  a city,  and  of  raising 
a tower  of  a great  height  in  the  centre  of  it,  as  a signal  and  as  a point  of 
union.’  It  was  for  this  purpose  that  the  French  antiquary,  De  Goguet, 
in  his  Origine  cles  Loix,  attributes  the  erection  of  that  vast  structure, 
called  the  tower  of  Babel ; while  the  best  translators  of  the  Hebrew  Bible 
render  the  fourth  verse  of  the  eleventh  chapter  of  Genesis,  ‘let  us  build 
us  a city  and  a tower  whose  top  may  reach  unto  heaven  ; and  let  us  make 
us  a name , lest  we  be  scattered  abroad giving  the  desire  of  perpetuat- 
ing their  fame  by  an  indestructible  monument,  as  their  motive  for  this 
undertaking. 

“ We  learn  the  simple  manners  and  customs  of  the  ancient  Israelites 
and  the  nations  in  their  immediate  vicinity,  from  their  ancient  writers. 
And  Homer,  in  describing  the  manners  of  the  Cyclops,  gives  a cor- 
roborating idea  of  the  uncultivated  state  of  many  of  the  ancient  nations. 

‘ The  Cyclops,’  says  the  poet,*  ‘ know  no  laws ; each  governs  his  family, 
and  rules  over  his  wife  and  children.  They  trouble  not  themselves 
with  the  affairs  of  their  neighbours,  and  think  not  themselves  inter- 
ested in  them.  Accordingly,  they  have  no  assemblies  to  deliberate  on 
public  affairs.  They  are  governed  by  no  general  laws  to  regulate 

their  manners  and  their  actions.  They  neither  plant  nor  sow.  They 
are  fed  by  the  fruit  which  the  earth  produces  spontaneously.  Their 
abode  is  on  the  summits  of  mountains,  and  caverns  serve  them  for 
retreats. 

“ This  unsocial,  uncultivated  mode  of  living  could  not  be  of  long  con- 
tinuance with  regard  to  a great  part  of  mankind.  So  many  motives 
must  have  concurred  to  induce  families  to  associate  and  mingle  with  each 
other,  that  several  must  have  united  early. 

“ The  connexion  of  architecture  and  the  rest  of  the  arts  and  sciences, 
with  the  laws,  government,  and  manners  of  a people,  are  curious  and  use- 
ful subjects  of  inquiry.  Their  relation  with  the  history  of  the  human 
mind  is  clear  and  indisputable. 

“ Architecture  takes  its  style,  its  varieties,  its  colouring,  if  it  may  be  so 


Odyssey,  1.  ix.,  v.  106.  et  seq. 


12 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


called,  from  the  people  who  successively  invented  or  introduced  it ; and 
their  moral  characters  as  a people  may  be  deduced  from  their  national  styles 
of  architecture,  as  will  be  hereafter  shown. 

“ Among  the  earliest  specimens  of  monumental  architecture  of  which 
we  read,  Josephus  acquaints  us  that  the  children  of  Seth  erected  two  pil- 
lars, one  of  brick  and  the  other  stone,  on  which  they  engraved  the  princi- 
ples of  astronomy.  The  making  of  bricks,  the  building  with  hewn 
stone,  and  the  art  of  sculpture  here  shown,  are  proofs  of  a high  degree  of 
civilization  and  a knowledge  of  the  arts  and  sciences  by  no  means  con- 
temptible. 

t;  In  the  second  age  of  the  world,  which  is  calculated  from  the  building 
of  the  tower  of  Babel  by  the  posterity  of  Noah  to  the  foundation  of  Athens 
by  Cecrops  in  the  year  before  Christ  1556,  many  large  cities  were  founded. 
Early  in  this  period,  Nimrod  laid  the  foundation  of  the  Assyrian  empire, 
and  built  Ninevah,  the  celebrated  metropolis  of  Assyria.  Nearly  at  the 
same  time  Troy  was  founded  by  Scamander  ; Mizraim,  the  son  of  Ham,  led  a 
colony  into  Egypt,  and  laid  the  foundation  of  a kingdom  ; and  Cadmus, 
the  reputed  inventor  of  letters,  with  Moses,  the  Jewish  legislator,  and  Aaron, 
his  brother,  flourished. 

“ In  this  early  period  of  history,  the  Assyrians  cultivated  the  arts,  and 
excelled  in  that  of  architecture.  This  second  epoch,  or  age,  is  distinguish- 
ed by  the  building  of  the  tower  of  Babel,  and  by  the  design  formed  by  the 
posterity  of  Noah,  and  in  part  executed,  of  building  a city  in  the  plains  of 
Shinai.*  According  to  some  historians,  Belus,  known  in  the  Scriptures  by 
the  name  of  Nimrod,  the  first  king  of  Assyria,  was  the  reputed  projector 
of  this  structure.  He  built,  afterwards,  in  the  same  place,  the  celebrated 
city  of  Babylon,  where  he  arrogated  to  himself  the  honours  of  divinity.  Ni- 
nus,  his  son,  erected  to  him  the  first  known  temple,  consecrated  a statue  to  his 
memory,  and  ordered  it  to  be  worshipped,  which  is  the  first  recorded  instance 
of  idolatry. 

“ Babylon  was  a large  and  beautiful  city.  Pliny  relates  (lib.  vi.,  c.  26.) 
that  it  was  sixty  miles  in  circumference,  that  its  walls  were  two  hundred 
feet  high  and  fifty  thick,  and  that  the  magnificent  temple  of  Jupiter  Belus 
was  standing  there  in  his  time.  Herodotus  says  it  was  four  hundred 
and  eighty  furlongs  in  circumference ; that  it  was  full  of  magnificent 
structures,  and  celebrated  for  the  temple  of  Belus ; that  it  had  a hun- 
dred gates  of  brass,  which  proves  that  the  fusion  and  mixture  of  metals 
were  known  ; and  that  other  arts  dependent  on  design  were  then  prac- 
tised. 


* Genesis,  xi.  4. 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


13 


“ In  less  than  two  centuries  after  the  flood,  architecture  was  cultivated 
in  Chaldea,  China,  Egypt,  and  Phoenicia.  Moses*  has  preserved  the  names 
of  several  cities  which  Nimrod  built  in  Chaldea.  The  Chinese,  say  the 
Fohi,  enclosed  cities  and  towns  with  walls,  (Martini,  1.  i.,  p.  28  ;)  and 
Semiramis,  the  wife  of  Ninus,  finished  the  stupendous  walls  of  Babylon, 
which  were  reckoned  among  the  seven  wonders  of  the  world,  and  her 
palace,  which  is  celebrated  by  historians  for  the  historical  and  emblema- 
tical sculptures  with  which  the  walls  were  covered,  and  for  the  colossal 
statues  of  bronze  and  gold  of  Jupiter  Belus,  Ninus,  Semiramis,  and  of  her 
principal  warriors  and  officers  of  state, 

“ Architecture,  having  thus  been  successfully  practised  among  the  Assy- 
rians, was  carried  by  them  into  Egypt,  the  most  ancient  country  of  which 
we  have  any  authentic  monuments  existing,  and  also  into  other  countries, 
the  people  of  which  they  subjugated.  The  Egyptian  style  of  architecture 
is  characterized  by  a solidity  of  construction,  by  an  originality  of  conception, 
and  by  a boldness  of  form.  The  civilization  of  this  people  and  the  conse- 
quent cultivation  of  the  arts,  commenced  in  Upper  Egypt.  The  architectu- 
ral monuments  of  this  portion  of  Egypt  are  more  numerous,  more  character- 
istic, and  more  ancient,  than  those  of  Lower  Egypt,  whose  inhabitants  for  a 
long  period  after  the  knowledge  of  architecture  in  Upper  Egypt  lived  in 
natural  caves  and  excavations  in  the  mountains.  The  excavations  now 
remaining  and  mentioned  by  travellers,  are  possibly  of  this  period  ; but  the 
hieroglyphics  and  other  figures  with  which  they  are  sculptured  am  of  a 
later  period  than  that  of  their  first  reputed  inhabitants. 

“Before  entering  on  the  details  of  the  Egyptian  monuments,  I will  first 
briefly  analyze  and  describe  the  character  of  their  architecture.  The  char- 
acteristics or  elementary  principles  of  Egyptian  architecture  are,  walls  of 
great  thickness,  roofs  generally  of  a single  block  of  stone  which  reached 
from  wall  to  wall,  a multitude  of  columns  of  various  forms,  proportions,  and 
ornaments,  seldom  with  bases,  and  when  with  that  addition  they  are  mostly 
simple  plinths.  The  capitals  vary  considerably,  as  may  be  seen  in  the 
works  of  Denon,  Dr.  Pococke,  Belzoni,  and  other  travellers.  In  some  in- 
stances they  are  ornamented  with  foliage,  in  others  they  resemble  a vase, 
and  again  in  others  a bell  reversed.  In  Egyptian  architecture  there  is  no 
frieze,  nor,  correctly  speaking,  any  cornice  or  architrave,  and  their  substitutes 
may  be  called  by  either  name;  for  something  resembling  them  may  be 
traced  in  the  epistylia,  or  beams  of  stone,  which  reach  from  column  to 
column. 


* Genesis,  x.  10. 


14 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


“ Another  characteristic  of  Egyptian  architecture  is  a peculiar  narrowness 
of  intercolumniation,  being  often  not  more  than  three  feet  and  a half  in 
width.  The  absence  of  arches,  which  are  supplied  by  epistylia,  or  stone 
beams,  or  lintels,  is  also  another  and  peculiar  characteristic  of  this  original 
and  singular  style. 

“Dr.  Pococke  thinks  that  the  ancient  Egyptians  were  not  ignorant  of  the 
construction  of  the  arch,  but  does  not  give  satisfactory  proofs  of  the  cause 
of  his  conviction.  And  the  president  De  Goguet,  in  his  learned  disserta- 
tion on  the  origin  of  laws,  arts,  and  sciences,  assumes  from  their  not  using 
it,  that  they  did  not  understand  it.  The  proofs  which  he  gives  of  this  igno- 
rance might  with  as  great  propriety  be  adduced  of  their  contempt  of  this 
mechanical  means  of  covering  apertures.  The  nearest  approach  to  the 
principle  is  to  be  seen  in  the  entrance  of  the  great  pyramid  at  Memphis,  of 
which  an  engraving  is  given  in  that  work. 

“ Belzoni  agrees  in  opinion  of  their  knowledge  of  the  arch,  and  found 
specimens  at  Thebes  and  at  Gournon,  under  the  rocks  which  separate  that 
place  from  the  valley  Babel  el  Malook. 

“ However  conjectural  the  origin  of  the  Egyptian  style  may  be,  thus  far 
at  least  is  certain,  that  it  is  the  fountain  whence  all  succeeding  people 
have  drawn  their  most  copious  draughts,  and  is  deserving  of  minute  investi- 
gation. This  style  bears  all  the  marks  of  freshness  of  invention  drawn 
from  native  materials  and  national  symbols.  It  is  in  the  country  of  its 
origin  that  those  colossal  wonders,  those  architectural  monsters,  the  pyramids, 
are  situated.  It  is  needless  to  dwell  upon  a long  description  of  these  struc- 
tures. They  have  been  the  theme  of  literati  and  travellers  for  centuries,  and 
bear  authentic  testimony  to  the  truth  of  history. 

“ The  largest  of  the  three  pyramids  said  to  have  been  built  by  Cheops, 
or  Chemnis,  forms  a square  whose  base  is  six  hundred  feet  and  its  height 
nearly  five  hundred  feet,  or  an  area  the  size  of  Lincoln’s  Inn  Fields,  which 
have  been  said  to  have  been  constructed  of  this  specific  size  by  Inigo  Jones 
for  the  purpose  of  illustration,  and  its  apex  nearly  a third  higher  than  the 
summit  of  the  cross  of  St.  Paul’s. 

“ This  mountain  of  masonry  is  constructed  with  stones  of  an  extraordinary 
size,  many  of  them  being  thirty  feet  long,  four  in  height,  and  three  in 
thickness.  Herodotus,  Diodorus  Siculus,  and  Pliny,  say,  that  the  stones 
employed  in  building  the  pyramids  were  brought  from  Ethiopia  and  Arabia. 
This  fact  De  Goguet  affects  to  doubt,  for  he  says  it  is  not  likely  that  the 
kings  of  Egypt,  having  excellent  materials  at  hand,  would  have  unnecessa- 
rily expended  immense  sums  to  have  fetched  them  from  afar.  And  that 
the  stones  of  the  pyramids  bear  too  great  a resemblance  to  those  which  are 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY, 


15 


found  in  the  neighbourhood,  for  him  to  imagine  (hat  they  were  not  taken 
thence.  Yet  it  is  no  less  probable  that  the  stones  referred  to  by  these 
ancient  historians,  may  have  been  the  marble  with  which  they  were  coated, 
and  may  have  been  fetched  from  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Red  Sea  and 
from  Upper  Egypt. 

“The  origin  of  the  pyramids,  the  causes  of  their  erection,  and  by  whom, 
are  differently  related ; but  Belzoni  has  in  some  measure  set  the  question  at 
rest  by  his  recent  discoveries,  and  proved  that  they  were  the  tombs  of  their 
founders. 

“Herodotus,  tire  father  of  pagan  history,  records  with  an  interesting  accu- 
racy the  methods  used  in  constructing  the  greater  pyramid,  that  leaves 
nothing  to  doubt.  He  relates  that  a hundred  thousand  workmen  were  em- 
ployed at  the  same  time  in  the  construction  of  this  pyramid.  They  were 
relieved  by  an  equal  number  every  three  months.  Teir  years,  he  reports, 
on  the  authority  of  the  Egyptian  priests,  were  employed  in  hewing  and 
conveying  the  stones,  and  twenty  more  in  finishing  this  enormous  structure, 
which  contained  galleries,  chambers,  and  a well. 

“An  eminent  writer  in  the  Asiatic  Researches  (Captain  Wilford,)  in  a 
very  curious  dissertation  on  this  subject,  translated  from  the  ancient  books 
of  the  Hindus,  says,  the  pyramids  are  there  called  three  stupendous  moun- 
tains, of  gold,  silver,  and  of  precious  stones.  They  might  be  so  named  in 
the  hyperbolical  style  of  the  eastern  nations,  but  he  conjectured  they  were 
so  used  from  the  coating  with  which  they  were  covered,  and  that  the  first 
was  said  to  be  of  gold,  because  it  was  covered  with  yellow  marble ; the 
second  of  silver,  being  coated  with  white  marble;  and  the  third  of  jewels 
and  precious  stones,  because  it  excelled  the  others  in  magnificence,  being- 
coated  with  beautiful  variegated  marbles  of  a fine  grain  and  exquisite 
lustre. 

“ If  these  pyramids  were  entirely  faced  with  marble  and  ornamented  by 
sculpture,  if  these  tremendous  masses  of  eternal  masonry  were  but  cores 
to  ornamental  structures,  such  as  have  been  described,  they  may,  nay,  they 
must  have  been,  particularly,  if  their  summits  were  surmounted  by  the  sky- 
piercing obelisk,  the  grandest  architectural  monuments  ever  produced  by  the 
little  builder,  man. 

“Near  to  these  pyramids  is  the  colossal  head  called  the  Sphinx  of 
Ghiza,  the  face  of  which  resembles  a woman,  and  the  body  that  of  a lion. 
This  extraordinary  figure  is  said  to  have  been  the  sepulchre  of  the  Egyp- 
tian king  Amasis,  and  is  one  entire  stone,  being  sculptured  out  of  a solid 
rock. 

“ Count  Cabillia,  who  investigated  this  spot  a short  time  previous  to  the 


1G 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


enterprizing  Belzoni,  succeeded,  after  much  labour  and  difficulty,  in  uncov- 
ering the  front  of  this  colossus,  and  found  a small  temple  between  its  front 
paws,  and  a large  tablet  of  granite  on  its  breast  inscribed  with  figures  and 
hieroglyphics. 

“Among  other  celebrated  examples  of  monumental  architecture  among  the 
Egyptians,  are  their  obelisks,  which  have  been  considered  not  only  purely 
Egyptian  in  use,  but  also  in  origin.  But  if  what  Herodotus  says  be  true, 
it  must  have  been  in  Asia,  and  not  in  Egypt,  that  they  had  their  origin. 

“ This  ancient  author  speaks  of  a pyramidal  spire  erected  by  command 
of  Semiramis  on  the  road  to  Babylon,  which  was  a single  stone,  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty  feet  in  height,  and  twenty-five  broad  at  its  base.  Pliny, 
however,  insists  on  their  Egyptian  origin,  and  that  a king  of  Heliopolis, 
called  Mestres,  was  the  first  who  caused  one  to  be  raised.  Be  this  as  it  may, 
the  monarchs  and  people  of  Egypt  appear  always  to  have  had  a great  taste 
for  obelisks,  and  the  names  of  those  who  erected  such  may  be  found  in  the 
works  of  the  elder  Pliny. 

“ Two  of  the  principal  of  these  grand  monuments  of  art  were  erected  by 
Sesostris,  with  the  design  of  informing  posterity  of  the  extent  of  his  power  and 
the  number  of  the  nations  which  he  had  conquered.  They  are  each  of  a 
single  piece  of  granite  one  hundred  and  eighty  feet  high. 

“Augustus,  according  to  Pliny,  transported  one  of  these  obelisks  to  Rome, 
and  raised  it  in  the  Campus  Martius.  Of  the  three  now  in  Rome,  doubts 
have  been  raised  whether  either  of  them  are  of  those  raised  by  Sesostris.  on 
account  of  their  want  of  height.  That  now  by  the  fountain  of  the  Piazzo 
del  Popolo,  is  seventy-four  feet  without  its  modern  pedestal;  that  of  the 
Vatican,  in  front  of  St.  Peter’s,  seventy-eight  feet ; and  that  on  Trinita  de 
Monte,  forty-five  feet  without  their  pedestals ; while  those  of  Sesostris  were 
of  the  enormous  height  of  one  hundred  and  eighty  feet. 

“ The  obelisk  of  the  Piazza  del  Popolo  is  that  which  was  brought  to 
Rome  by  Augustus,  after  being  spared  from  the  ravages  of  Cambyses,  from 
respect  to  its  origin,  when  that  furious  conqueror  put  all  to  fire  and  sword  in 
Egypt,  sparing  neither  palaces  nor  temples,  nor  those  superb  monuments 
which,  ruined  as  they  are,  are  still  the  admiration  of  travellers. 

“ From  the  place  where  it  was  originally  elevated  by  Augustus,  it  was 
removed  to  its  present  situation  by  Pope  Sextus  V.,  in  1589,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Cavalier  Fontana,  who  also  designed  its  pedestal  and  the  conti- 
guous fountain.  The  one  now  so  great  an  ornament  in  the  front  of  St. 
Peter’s,  is  also  said  to  have  been  one  of  those  erected  by  Sesostris  at  Heliopo- 
lis, the  city  of  the  sun,  and  was  brought  to  Rome,  by  Caligula,  in  a vessel 
then  the  largest  that  had  ever  been  seen  at  sea,  and  was  afterwards  sunk 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


17 


to  form  the  port  of  Ostia.  Caligula  erected  it  in  his  circus  at  the  Vatican, 
which  was  destroyed  by  Constantine  the  Great,  to  build  the  first  basilica  of 
St.  Peter;  but  he  left  the  obelisk  standing  on  the  spot  now  occupied  by  the 
sacristy.  It  was  removed  at  an  expense  of  nearly  £10,000  sterling,  in  1586, 
by  Sextus  V.  to  its  present  situation,  nearly  a century  before  the  construction 
of  the  fine  colonnade  which  now  surrounds  it. 

“Of  the  great  and  beautiful  temple  of  Dendera,  or  Tentyra,  it  is  difficult 
to  say  whether  it  be  monumental  or  sacred,  but  it  may  class  with  the  former. 
The  inhabitants  of  this  place  were  great  worshippers  of  Isis  and  Venus. 
From  the  ruins,  it  appears  that  the  temples  of  this  city  were  more  beautiful 
and  splendid  and  in  a better  style  of  art  and  workmanship  than  any  other 
now  remaining  in  Figypt.  Dr.  Pococke,  Captain  Norden,  Paul  Lucas, 
Granger,  Maillett,  Cassas,  and  Denon,  have  been  diffuse  and  enthusiastic 
in  their  descriptions  of  Tentyra.  Denon  was  so  enraptured  when  he  stood 
beneath  the  portico  of  the  great  temple  at  Tentyra,  that  he  exclaimed,  ‘I 
thought  myself,  nay,  I really  was,  in  the  sanctuary  of  the  arts  and  sciences. 
I was  agitated  by  the  multiplicity  of  objects,  amazed  by  their  novelty,  and 
tormented  by  the  fear  that  I should  never  behold  them  again.’  The  extent 
of  this  temple  was  such,  that  the  Arabs  had  formerly  a village  on  its  roof, 
the  ruins  of  which  are  still  to  be  seen. 

“ Belzoni,  in  his  travels  in  Egypt,  speaking  of  this  temple,  says,  ( on  the 
19th,  early  in  the  morning,  my  curiosity  was  at  a high  pitch,  the  noted 
temple  of  Tentyra  being  the  only  thought  I had  in  my  head.  On  arriving 
before  it,  I was  for  some  time  at  a loss  where  I should  begin  my  examina- 
tion. The  numerous  objects  before  me,  all  equally  attractive,  left  me  for  a 
while  in  a state  of  suspense  and  astonishment.’  The  enormous  masses  of 
stone  employed  in  the  edifice  are  so  well  disposed,  that  the  eye  discovers  the 
most  just  proportion  everywhere.  The  majestic  appear  ince  of  its  construc- 
tion, the  variety  of  its  ornaments,  and,  above  all,  the  singularity  of  its  pre- 
servation, had  such  an  effect  on  Belzoni,  that  he  seated  himself  on  the 
ground,  and  was  for  a considerable  time  lost  in  admiration.  It  is  the  first 
Egyptian  temple  the  traveller  sees  on  ascending  the  Nile,  and  is  certainly 
the  most  magnificent.  It  has  an  advantage  over  most  others,  from  the  good 
state  of  preservation  it  is  in.  It  is  the  cabinet  of  Egyptian  art,  the  product 
of  study  for  many  centuries,  and  deserves  all  the  praise  that  has  been  given 
to  it.  It  was  in  this  grand  monument  of  the  art  that  the  celebrated  Zodiac 
of  Tentyra  was  found,  which  MM.  Saulnier  and  Leloraine  have  recently 
carried  away  to  Paris. 

“ There  are  few  subjects  on  which  men  of  learning  and  taste  have  differed 
more  than  upon  the  art  of  the  Egyptians.  Some  raising  it  to  the  skies, 

3 


18 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


olhers  scouting  it  as  the  barbarous  of  barbarism.  De  Goguet  and  his  follow- 
ers  treated  it  with  the  utmost  contempt.  Denon  and  Belzoni  overflow  with 
praises  of  its  beauties,  and  find  no  defects.  Sonnini  describes  his  sensations 
at  the  sight  of  their  temples  as  difficult  to  define,  so  grand,  so  majestic  did 
he  find  them.  It  was  not  a simple  admiration  merely,  but  an  ecstasy  which 
suspended  the  use  of  all  his  faculties.  He  remained  for  some  time  immovable 
with  rapture,  and  felt  himself  more  than  once  inclined  to  prostrate  himself 
in  token  of  veneration  before  monuments,  the  rearing  which  appeared  to 
transcend  the  strength  and  genius  of  man. 

“Yet  after  all,  the  Egyptian  style  is  monotonous,  sombre,  heavy,  and 
unfit  for  our  use;  and,  if  studied  exclusively,  till  regard  for  antiquity  engen- 
ders love  for  ugliness,  is  destructive  of  a pure  taste.  What  made  probably  a 
delightful  parlour  in  Egypt,  would  make  an  excellent  coal  cellar  in  England. 
Yet,  from  its  antiquity  and  excellence  of  construction,  there  are  few  styles 
more  interesting  to  the  antiquary,  more  delightful  to  the  traveller,  or  bearing 
greater  testimony  to  the  truth  of  ancient  history. 

“Although  the  lively  Frenchman,  Sonnini,  says,  that  before  it  the  so 
much  boasted  fabrics  of  Greece  and  Rome  must  come  and  bow  down  ; yet, 
when  it  is  calmly  investigated  and  brought  to  the  standard  of  judgment,  it 
will  not  bear  a momentary  comparison  with  either  for  chasteness,  real  beauty, 
and  true  sublimity. 

“ Architecture  among  the  ancient  Jews,  is  a much  darker  and  more  inex- 
plicable subject.  The  Hebrews,  Israelites,  or  Jews,  by  a residence  in  Egypt 
of  nearly  four  hundred  years,  had  attained  a considerable  degree  of  civiliza- 
tion. After  their  deliverance  from  captivity  in  that  country,  they  led  a wan- 
dering life  for  forty  years.  The  temples  which  they  had  seen  in  Egypt 
dedicated  to  Egyptian  idols,  led  them  to  consecrate  a temple  where  they 
might  assemble  in  public  worship  of  the  true  God.  As  it  was  necessary, 
from  their  mode  of  life  during  their  sojournment  in  the  wilderness,  that  it 
should  be  portable,  they  constructed  it  in  the  form  of  a spacious  tent.  In  the 
plan  and  arrangement  of  this  temporary  erection,  known  by  the  name  of  the 
tabernacle,  they  took  the  form,  it  has  been  conjectured,  of  the  Egyptian  tem- 
ples for  their  guide ; they  adopted  in  the  details  and  ornaments  a peculiar 
and  national  style.  Conjecture  and  written  description  is  all  that  is  left  us 
of  the  architecture  of  the  Hebrews. 

“ The  architectural  ruins  of  the  monuments  of  the  old  inhabitants  of  that 
great,  empire  improperly  called  by  Europeans  Persia — the  name  of  a single 
province  being  applied  to  the  whole  empire  of  Iran,  as  it  is  correctly  deno- 
minated by  the  natives  and  by  the  learned  Mussulmans  who  resided  in 
British  India — are  conclusive  proofs  of  the  grandeur  of  this  ancient  people. 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


19 


They  differ  in  style  both  from  the  Egyptian  and  the  Hindu,  yet  possess 
a general  affinity.  Sir  William  Jones,  after  due  investigation, — and  who 
was  ever  a more  ardent  and  laborious  investigator  than  he?— concludes, 
from  the  most  unexceptionable  evidence,  that  the  Iranian  or  Persian  mon- 
archy must  have  been  the  most  ancient  in  the  world  ; but  he  was  doubtful 
to  which  of  the  three  stocks,  Hindu,  Arabian,  or  Tartarian,  the  first  kings 
of  Iran  belonged.  He  also,  after  a most  learned  and  interesting  disquisition, 
holds  this  proposition  firmly  established : that  Iran,  or  Persia,  was  the  true 
centre  of  population,  of  knowledge,  of  languages,  and  of  arts.  Of  such  a 
people,  an  account  of  their  architecture  cannot  but  be  of  consequence  ; and 
it.  is  therefore  lamentable  that  so  few  faithful  delineations  of  their  monuments 
have  been  taken. 

“ The  ruins  of  Persepolis  are  the  principal  existing  remains  of  Persian 
architecture.  This  city  was  taken  by  Alexander,  misnamed  the  Great,  who 
was  persuaded  by  Thais,  a shameless  courtesan,  during  a drunken  revel,  to 
set  it  on  fire,  at  the  place  now  called  by  the  natives  Kilmanac  or  Ischilma- 
nar,  the  forty  columns,  from  the  circumstance  of  there  having  been  that 
number  standing  when  the  Mahometans  invaded  that  part  of  Iran  ; but  at 
present  there  are  not  above  nineteen  left.  The  splendid  edifice  of  which 
these  ruins  are  the  remains,  is  supposed  to  have  been  erected  by  their  king 
Huished,  or  Schemscheddin. 

“ The  style  of  the  architecture  and  sculpture  proves  their  antiquity.  From 
the  fact  of  every  column  being  surmounted  by  a figure  of  some  animal,  and 
the  well  known  circumstance  of  the  ancient  Persians  performing  their  reli- 
gious duties  in  the  open  air,  proves,  in  opposition  to  Millin,  — for  the  building 
could  never  have  had  architraves  or  a roof, — that  it  was  a temple.  These 
singular  columnar  ruins  are  formed  of  a beautiful  white  marble,  which  is 
found  in  the  mountain  Rachmed  near  the  spot. 

£-  Count  Caylus  thought  he  perceived,  and  endeavoured  to  draw,  an  ana- 
logy between  the  Persepolitan  and  the  Egyptian  styles  ; but  we  have  not 
sufficient  authority  of  the  former  to  examine  these  claims. 

“ The  Hindu  style  of  architecture,  as  exemplified  in  their  monuments, 
appears  to  have  been  drawn  from  their  original  dwellings,  caves  and  exca- 
vations. Man  is  by  nature  a burrowing  animal,  and  mostly  carries  his 
original  propensities  into  states  of  refinement. 

“The  period  of  authentic  history  in  India,  as  in  other  countries,  is  com- 
paratively of  recent  date.  It  is  scarcely  more  than  three  thousand  years 
since  the  most  ancient  and  only  genuine  historical  records  of  the  ancient 
world,  ascribed  to  Musah,  or,  as  we  call  him  after  the  Greeks  and  Romans, 
Moses,  were  composed.  Herodotus,  the  most  ancient  heathen  historian  whose 


20 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


works  have  reached  our  times,  flourished  a thousand  years  later ; and  Homer, 
the  third  ancient  author  who  speaks  of  our  art,  is  of  too  doubtful  a period 
to  establish  dates. 

“ The  remains  of  architectural  monuments  in  India,  from  style  and  con- 
struction, seem  to  prove  an  early  connexion  between  that  country  and 
Egypt.  The  pyramids,  the  colossal  statues,  the  obelisks,  the  sphinx,  the 
mummy  pits  and  subterranean  temples  with  colossal  figures,  and  the  lion- 
headed sphinxes,  recently  discovered  by  Belzoni  in  Egypt,  indicate  the  style 
and  system  of  mythology  to  be  akin  to  those  of  the  indefatigable  workmen 
who  formed  the  vast  excavations  of  Canarah,  Elephanta,  and  Ellora,  as 
well  as  the  various  immense  pagodas,  pillars,  and  colossal  images  of  Buddha 
and  other  Indian  idols.  These  subjects  will  be  farther  discussed  in  the 
article  Sacred  Architecture. 

“ Another  proof  of  a similarity  of  style  between  the  ancient  Egyptians 
and  Hindus,  is  their  mutually  using  lofty  spires,  or  obelisks,  like  the  pillar 
of  Allahabad ; a striking  resemblance  to  which  is  seen  in  the  ancient  round 
towers  of  Ireland  ; and  also  between  the  pyramids  of  Egypt  and  the  colossal 
brick  building  in  the  Hadjipore  district,  near  the  Gunduc  river.  This  im- 
mense pile  of  brick  is  about  two  days  journey  up  the  Gunduc,  one  of  the 
tributary  streams  of  the  Ganges  near  Kessereah. 

“ Mr.  Burrows,  who  visited  it  about  the  year  1785,  and  took  its  dimen- 
sions, conceives  it  to  be  evidently  intended  for  the  well  known  image  of  the 
god  Maha  Deo ; having  originally  been  a cylinder  placed  upon  the  frustrum 
of  a cone,  for  the  purpose  of  being  seen  at  a distance.  It  is  at  present  very 
much  decayed,  and  it  is  not  very  easy  to  tell  whether  the  upper  part  of  the 
cylinder  has  been  circular  or  conical.  A considerable  quantity  of  the  outside 
has  fallen  down,  but  it  is  still  seen  at  a great  distance  up  and  down  the 
river. 

“ The  dimensions  of  this  colossal  edifice,  as  given  by  Mr.  Burrows,  in  the 
Asiatic  Researches,  are  the  diameter  of  the  column  at  the  base,  three  hun- 
dred and  sixty-three  feet;  height  of  the  conic  frustrum  on  which  the  cylin- 
der is  placed,  ninety-three  feet;  diameter  of  the  cylinder,  sixty-four  feet, 
which  is  nearly  two-thirds  of  the  size  of  the  diameter  of  the  base  of  the 
cupola  of  St.  Paul’s  cathedral ; height  of  the  present  remains  of  the  cylinder 
or  round  tower,  sixty-five  feet ; entire  height,  one  hundred  and  fifty-eight 
feet,  or  nearly  the  height  of  the  monument  near  London  Bridge  without  its 
pedestal.  Both  the  cylinder  and  the  cone  are  constructed  of  well  burnt 
bricks,  many  of  them  two  spans  long  and  one  broad,  and  others  of  the  com- 
mon size  but  thinner. 

11  The  pillar  of  Allahabad,  as  described  by  the  late  Captain  Hoare,  is  a 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


21 


lofty  conical  structure,  covered  with  inscriptions,  which  are  given  in  the 
second  volume  of  the  Transactions  of  the  Asiatic  Society,  with  an  engraving 
of  its  elevation ; but  neither  Captain  Hoare,  Mr.  Colebrooke,  nor  Moonshee 
Mohammed  Morad,  who  accompanied  the  Captain  to  Allahabad,  could 
obtain  any  information  respecting  it. 

“Architecture  is  of  too  much  importance  in  the  affairs  of  nations  to  be 
neglected  or  despised  by  the  political  economist ; being  the  art  by  which  we 
can  best  distinguish  man  in  a civilized  state  from  that  of  simple  barbarity, 
and  forms  a scale  of  comparative  cultivation  and  of  the  progress  of  intellect 
between  nation  and  nation. 

“ Plato  acknowledges  that  the  science  of  politics  and  legislation  began 
with  the  building  of  cities,  (Plat,  de  Leg.,  1.  3.  et  6.) : thus  has  architecture 
its  political  use,  public  buildings  being  the  most  distinguished  and  most 
durable  ornaments  of  a country.  It  establishes  a nation,  draws  people, 
creates  commerce,  makes  the  people  love  and  respect  their  native  country, 
which  passion  is  the  origin  of  all  great  actions  in  a commonwealth.  ‘The 
emulation  of  the  cities  of  Greece.’  says  Wren,  ‘was  the  true  cause  of  their 
greatness ; the  obstinate  valour  of  the  Jews,  occasioned  by  the  love  of  their 
magnificent  temple,  was  a cement  that  held  together  that  people  for  many 
ages,  through  infinite  changes.’ 

“ The  care  of  public  decency  and  convenience,  was  a great  cause  of  the 
establishment  of  the  Low  Countries,  and  of  many  cities  in  the  world.  Modern 
Rome  subsists  still  by  tire  ruins  and  imitation  of  its  glorious  ancestor  ; as 
does  Jerusalem  by  the  temple  of  the  sepulchre  and  other  remains  of  Helena’s 
zeal. 

“ Architecture  aims  at  eternity  ; and  is,  therefore,  the  only  art  incapable 
of  modes  and  fashions  in  its  principles,  the  orders.  It  is  also  the  most  faith- 
ful recorder  of  the  great  and  noble  deeds  of  nations  long  since  past  away ; 
and  its  works  are  speaking  witnesses  of  the  truth  of  history. 

“By  the  gigantic  pyramids,  by  the  lofty  obelisks,  by  the  stupendous  tem- 
ples, and  other  architectural  monuments  of  Egypt,  we  have  authentic  docu- 
ments and  ocular  demonstration  of  the  veracity  of  the  historic  pen  which  re- 
cords the  numbers  and  the  power  of  the  mighty  people  that  once  inhabited 
the  extensive  shores  of  the  prolific  Nile. 

“ The  Parthenon,  the  Erectheum,  and  the  other  brilliant  gems  of  Attic 
taste  which  embellish  the  solitary  wastes  of  ancient  Athens,  bear  similar 
testimony  to  that  refined  taste  which  the  ancient  historians  and  critics  of  an- 
tiquity attribute  to  the  people  of  Greece.  The  Acropolis  and  its  lovely  struc- 
tures vouch  for  Pausanias;  the  Pyramids  and  obelisks  of  Egypt,  for  the 


22 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


venerable  father  of  pagan  history,  Herodotus ; and  Rome,  the  eternal  city, 
owes  its  most  lasting  celebrity  to  architecture. 

“ By  architecture,  too,  we  are  informed  how  painting  and  how  sculpture 
flourished  among  the  ancients.  For  it  has  not  only  preserved  upon  its  walls, 
as  in  the  temple  of  Tentyra,  in  the  magnificent  baths  of  the  Roman  emperors, 
and  on  the  walls  of  Herculaneum  and  Pompeii,  positive  vestiges  of  their 
pencils ; but  by  ratifying,  as  it  were,  the  truth  of  the  historians’  account  of 
their  architecture,  gives  us  a point  whereon  we  may  fix  our  belief  in  their  de- 
scriptions of  the  powers  of  their  ancient  painters.  Thus  the  existing  works  of 
Phidias,  Ictinus,  Callicrates,  and  Mnesicles,  prove  the  reality  and  the  power 
of  the  highly  and  justly  lauded  productions  of  Zeuxis,  Parrhasius,  and 
Apelles,  of  which  we  have  only  written,  testimony. 

“ Much  may  be  said  of  the  political  utility  and  moral  advantages  of  a cul- 
tivation of  architecture ; but  a few  words  on  an  enlightened  patronage  of  it 
may  not  be  deemed  extraneous  from  the  subject. 

“ This  proper  and  judicious  mode  of  administering  patronage,  or  in  other 
words,  justice,  to  a national  art,  of  necessity  includes  a patronage  of  all  the 
arts,  and  embellishes  the  names  of  monarchsand  princes  with  unfading  lustre, 
equal  to  any  and  superior  to  most.  A great  and  good  prince  is  rendered  yet 
more  illustrious  by  such  encouragement ; and  the  infamy  of  a bad  one  is 
even  gilded  over  to  his  contemporaries,  and  overpowered  to  posterity,  by  the 
brilliancy  of  its  lustre.  The  bloody  and  drunken  insanities  of  Alexander, 
by  some  called  the  Great,  are  shaded  by  his  patronage  and  love  of  art ; and 
the  nameless  atrocities  of  Hadrian  are  softened  by  his  deeds  in  art  almost  to 
a name  of  repute  ; while  the  mild  lustre  of  a Titus  receives  a brilliant  ac- 
cession from  the  same  causes.  So  is  the  tyranny  of  Pericles  adorned  and 
neutralized  by  his  enlightened  patronage  of  Phidias.  The  Parthenon  has 
remitted  his  sins  ; and  Hadrianopolis,  with  its  tasteful  structures,  sheds  rays 
of  glory  round  the  head  of  the  otherwise  contemptible  and  infamous  patron 
and  associate  of  Antinous. 

“ This  art  was  held  in  such  esteem  by  the  Greeks  that  none  but  the  well 
born  were  allowed  to  study  it,  and  princes  gloried  in  its  practice.  If,  as  Sir 
Joshua  Reynolds  asserts,  the  value  and  rank  of  every  art  be  in  proportion  to 
the  mental  labour  employed  in  it,  then  should  architecture  rank  very  high. 
As  this  principle  is  observed  or  neglected,  architecture  becomes  either  a libe- 
ral art  or  a mechanical  trade.  In  the  hands  of  one  man  it  makes  the  high- 
est pretensions,  as  it  is  addressed  to  the  noblest  faculties,  and  becomes  a mat- 
ter of  philosophy  ; while  in  those  of  another  it  is  reduced  to  a mere  matter 
of  ornament,  and  the  architect  has  but  the  humble  province  of  building  ele- 
gant trifles. 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


23 


“ la  a preceding  section  an  assertion  was  made  that  architecture  was  a 
less  imitative  art  than  either  painting,  sculpture  or  engraving;  that  its  ele- 
ments are  more  purely  original  than  those  of  the  other  arts  ; yet  it  is  in  a 
certain  degree  imitative  of  its  own  original  types  or  prefigurations,  which  are 
first  the  cavern , as  exemplified  in  the  Egyptian  and  the  Indian  styles, 
which  has  been  imitated  also  in  our  ancient  British  architecture,  as  may  be 
seen  in  many  examples,  such  as  the  ancient  crypt  of  St.  Peter’s,  Oxford,  at 
Lastingham  Priory,  &c.,  where  the  resemblance  is  abundantly  striking  ; the 
tent,  as  in  the  Chinese,  and  its  species  ; and  the  cabin , or  wooden  hut,  as 
displayed  in  the  Greek  and  its  imitators:  that  is  to  say,  that  the  Egyptians, 
the  Indians,  and  their  like,  imitated  in  their  buildings  their  ancient  excava- 
tions, their  primeval  dwellings ; that  the  Chinese,  in  their  pagodas  and  other 
public  buildings,  imitated  their  tent ; that  the  Greeks  imitated  and  refined 
carpentry  in  their  marble  temples;  that  the  Romans  followed  the  Greeks; 
that  the  early  architects  of  Britain  followed  the  Romans  ; that  many  archi- 
tects of  the  present  day  follow  the  Greeks  to  a servile  pedantry  ; and  that  the 
architects  erroneously  called  Gothic  imitated  their  primitive  places  of  worship, 
their  sacred  groves. 

“ Our  great  architect,  Sir  Christopher  Wren,  whose  merits  as  a writer  are 
scarcely  sufficiently  acknowledged,  carries  this  hypothesis  still  farther,  and  in  a 
most  beautiful  manner.  He  says,  ‘ Vitruvius  hath  led  us  the  true  way  to  find 
out  the  originals  of  the  orders.  When  men  first  cohabited  in  civil  commerce, 
there  was  a necessity  of  forums  and  public  places  of  meeting.  In  cold  coun- 
tries, people  were  obliged  to  shut  out  the  air,  the  cold,  and  the  rain  ; but  in 
the  hot  countries,  where  civility  first  began,  they  desired  to  exclude  the  sun 
only,  and  admit  all  possible  air  for  coolness  and  health.  This  brought  in 
naturally  the  use  of  porticoes,  or  roofs  for  shade,  set  upon  columns.  A walk 
of  trees  is  more  beautiful  than  the  most  artificial  portico ; but  these  not  being 
easily  preserved  in  market-places,  they  made  the  more  durable  shades  of  por- 
ticoes, in  which  we  see  they  imitated  nature.  Most  trees  that  are  in  their 
prime,  that  are  not  saplings  or  dotards,  observe  near  the  proportion  of  Doric 
columns  in  the  length  of  their  boll  before  they  part  into  branches.  This  I 
think  a more  natural  comparison  than  that  to  the  body  of  a man,  in  which 
there  is  little  resemblance  of  a cylindrical  body.  The  first  columns  were  the 
very  bolls  of  trees  turned  or  cut  in  prisms  of  many  sides.  A little  curiosity 
would  induce  to  lay  the  torus  at  the  top  : and  the  conjecture  is  not  amiss,  to 
say  it  was  first  a band  of  iron  to  keep  the  clefts  occasioned  by  the  sun  from 
opening  with  the  weight  above  ; and  to  keep  the  weather  from  piercing  these 
clefts,  it  was  necessary  to  cover  it  with  the  plinth,  or  square  board  ; and  the 


24 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


architrave  conjoined  all  the  columns  in  length,’  as  may  be  seen  in  the  draw- 
ing of  the  flank  of  the  Grecian  temple. 

“ Of  these  primitive  styles,  that  of  the  Egyptian,  or  cavern  style,  is  dark, 
heavy  and  monotonous;  the  Chinese,  or  tent  style,  light,  feeble,  and  fragile; 
and  the  Greek,  or  cabin  style,  is  at  once  solid  and  light,  is  susceptible  of  be- 
ing made  more  or  less  solid  or  light,  according  to  necessity  or  required 
character,  is  the  highest  in  its  combinations,  and  that  which  unites  in  itself 
in  the  highest  degree  the  advantages  of  solidity  and  an  infinite  agreeableness 
of  variety.  Of  the  elements  of  the  cabin,  or  Greek  style,  the  elegant  critic 
Algarotti  says,  in  his  Sargis  sopra  V Architettura,  that  it  is  the  material 
the  most  capable  of  furnishing  the  art  with  the  greatest  number  of  profiles, 
modifications,  and  varied  ornaments,  which  said  profiles,  modifications,  and 
varied  ornaments,  so  highly  prized  by  the  Italian  critic,  the  Greeks  have  in- 
durated, sublimed,  and  immortalized ; while  the  Romans  have  debased 
them,  and,  in  many  instances,  lowered  them  below  even  their  original 
types. 

“ While  upon  the  subject  of  that  imitation  which  is  essential  to  a pure 
style  in  architecture,  an  imitation  by  no  means  destructive  of  legitimate  in- 
vention, a few  words  may  be  allowed  by  way  of  elucidation. 

“ By  imitation  is  not  meant  that  servile  counterfeiting  of  an  original 
which  is  so  much  the  practice  of  some  of  our  modern  Greeks,  who  copy  the 
very  fractions,  of  lines  and  profiles,  instead  of  composing  in  the  same  spirit, 
but  that  bold  pursuit  of  a sublime  original  by  parallel  images  and  examples, 
sometimes  more  refined,  but  never  below  their  type,  which  distinguishes  true 
genius,  cultivated  and  improved  by  practice  and  study,  from  the  common 
herd  of  lineal  copyists’  modules  of  minutes  and  of  lines.  Such  a free  imita- 
tion as  the  rEneid  is  of  the  Iliad  ; such  a bold  and  original  imitation  as  Mil- 
ton  is  of  Homer  and  of  Virgil ; such  imitations  in  short  as  bear  the  marks  of 
real  genius — ‘ that  quality  without  which  judgment  is  cold,  and  knowledge  is 
inert — that  energy  which  collects,  combines,  amplifies,  and  animates.’ 

“ There  are  two  ways  by  which  a people  can  imitate  the  style  of  architec- 
ture of  another  country  ; the  one  true,  and  the  other  false.  The  true  mode 
is  less  an  imitation  than  an  adoption,  and  consists  in  receiving  as  an  alpha- 
bet in  their  entire  shape  the  system,  the  rules,  and  the  taste  of  a style  of  archi- 
tecture. It  was  thus  that  the  Romans  adopted  the  architecture  of  the  Greeks, 
or  perhaps  I should  say  of  the  Etrusians,  which  was  incontestably  the  same. 
It  was  thus  also  with  the  nations  of  modern  Europe,  who,  abandoning  the 
Gothic  and  the  incongruities  of  the  middle  ages,  have  appropriated  the  Greek 
and  Roman  styles  by  legitimate  adoption. 

“It  was  after  this  true  mode  that  Palladio,  in  his  imitations  and  inventive 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


25 


restorations  of  Roman  magnificence,  has  founded  a legitimate  school.  It  was 
thus  that  Michel  Angiolo  fairly  imitated  the  Pantheon  of  Agrippa  in  his  tre- 
mendous cupola  of  the  Vatican.  And  it  was  thus  that  our  illustrious  coun- 
tryman Wren,  whose  transcendent  talents  I have  recently  endeavoured  to  dis- 
play to  the  public,  rivalled  in  design,  and  surpassed  in  purity  of  taste  and 
scientific  construction,  the  Basilica  of  St.  Peter’s  at  Rome,  the  work  of  more 
than  twenty  architects,  supported  by  the  treasure  of  the  Christian  world,  and 
by  the  protection  and  under  the  reigns  of  twenty  successive  popes  ; in  his  un- 
rivalled and  splendid  work  of  St.  Paul’s,  London,  that  glorious,  though  un- 
finished monument  of  the  piety  and  magnificence  of  our  ancestors. 

“ Such  imitations  are  far  from  plagiarisms,  being,  on  the  contrary,  skilful 
adoptions  or  adaptations,  bearing  proofs  of  legitimate  and  inventive  talents. 

‘ Genius,’  says  Reynolds,  ‘ at  least  what  is  generally  so  called,  is  the  child  of 
imitation  ; it  is  in  vain  to  endeavour  to  invent  without  materials  on  which 
the  mind  may  work,  and  from  which  invention  must  originate.  Nothing 
can  come  of  nothing.’  (Disc,  i.) 

“ The  other  or  false  mode  of  imitation  is  plain  plagiarism,  and  nothing 
better  than  downright  theft,  without  even  that  ingenuity  to  conceal  the 
theft,  which,  among  the  Lacedaemonians,  always  procured  pardon  for  the 
thief.  This  mode  consists,  as  it  were,  in  importing  by  wholesale  such  por- 
tions of  a foreign  or  ancient  style  as  appears  suited  to  the  purposes  of  its 
importers,  and  converting  them  to  their  own  use,  not  as  their  original  inven- 
tors would  have  done  in  their  time  and  place,  but  forcibly  torturing  ancient 
art  to  modern  uses  ; like  as  the  gipsies  are  said  to  do  when  they  steal  children, 
to  disfigure  them  that  they  may  not  be  known.  These  are  mean  copiers 
and  importers  of  architecture,  common  borrowers;  the  others,  liberal  adopt- 
ers of  the  great  works  of  the  great  masters  of  our  art,  from  whom  ‘ the 
modern  arts  were  revived,  and  by  wdiose  means  they  must  be  restored  a 
second  time.’  ‘However  it  may  mortify  our  vanity,’  said  Reynolds,  ‘ we 
must  be  forced  to  allow  them  to  be  our  masters  ; and  we  may  venture  to 
prophesy,  that  when  they  cease  to  be  studied,  arts  will  no  longer  flourish, 
and  we  shall  again  relapse  into  barbarism.’  (Disc,  vi.) 

“ It  wras  not  in  this  way  that  the  Greeks  borrowed  the  idea  of  the  Corin- 
thian capital  from  the  Egyptians.  They  boldly  adapted  and  naturalized  it, 
as  well  as  other  types  of  their  orders,  which  may  be  seen  by  comparing 
them  ; and  concealed  it  with  Spartan  skill,  gratifying  their  national  vanity  in 
giving  currency  to  the  poetical  hypothesis  of  Callimachus  and  the  votive 
vase.  The  primitive  types  of  the  two  capitals  are  the  same,  as  may  be  seen 
by  comparison  ; the  original  of  each  is  a vase  surrounded  by  foliage  and 
covered  by  an  abacus,  and  a verbal  description  of  the  turn  would  very  nearly 

4 


26 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


assimilate.  The  other  orders,  namely,  the  Doric  and  the  Ionic,  are  as  evi- 
dently drawn  from  the  same  sources : yet  in  the  essentials  of  a national 
style  they  widely  differ.  The  Egyptians  properly  used  the  plants  and 
flowers  of  Egypt,  and  the  Greeks  those  of  Greece. 

“If,  however,  the  architecture  of  Greece  be,  as  is  often  and  perhaps  truly 
asserted,  borrowed,  adopted,  or  stolen  from  that  of  the  Egyptians,  the  Greeks 
have  certainly  most  gorgeously  embellished  their  robbery  ; and  if  from  their 
own  primeval  huts  and  cabins,  the  metamorphosis  of  the  cabin  into  the 
temple  is  as  rapid  and  complete  as  that  of  the  cottage  of  Baucis  and  Phile- 
mon, in  the  Metamorphoses  of  Ovid  : 

1 Ilia  vetus,  dominis  etiam  casa  parva  duo'ous, 

Vertitur  intemplum:  furcas  subiere  columns.’ — Ovid.  lib.  viii. 

“ The  principal  remains  of  the  most  ancient  examples  of  the  Indian  or 
Hindu  style  which  have  been  recently  discovered,  are  of  a singular  and 
extraordinary  kind,  being  mostly  excavations  in  the  solid  rock.  They  are 
supposed  by  some  antiquaries  to  have  been  subterranean  temples  ; but  many 
portions  of  them  are  undoubtedly  monumental  or  commemorative.  Im- 
mense sculptured  caverns  of  this  description  have  been  discovered  in  various 
parts  of  the  Indies,  which  are  wonderful  monuments  of  the  skill  and  industry 
of  the  people  who  achieved  them.  These  subterraneous  caverns  are  appa- 
rently as  ancient  as  the  oldest  Egyptian  temples  ; and  M.  D’Ancarville,  in  his 
Recherches  sur  FOrigine,  l’Esprit,  et  les  Progres  des  Arts  de  la  Grece,  thinks 
them  anterior  to  the  time  of  about  two  thousand  years  before  Christ. 

“ Some  arcbaiologists  have  supposed  these  wonderful  sculptured  caverns  to 
be  no  older  than  the  first  ages  of  Christianity,  after  the  natives  of  India  had 
received  the  knowledge  of  the  liberal  arts  and  sciences  from  the  Greeks.  The 
improbability  of  this  hypothesis  is  apparent  at  the  first  glance  ; for,  in  the 
first  place,  the  Greeks  did  not  practise  excavations ; and  secondly,  the  style, 
character,  and  execution,  are  as  different  as  light  and  darkness  from  the 
style,  character,  and  execution  of  the  architecture  of  the  Greeks. 

“ Dr.  Robertson,  on  the  contrary,  thinks  them  monuments  of  very  remote 
antiquity,  as  the  natives  cannot,  either  from  history  or  tradition,  give  any  in- 
formation concerning  the  time  in  which  they  were  excavated,  but  universally 
ascribe  them  to  the  power  of  a superior  race  of  beings.  Thus  Stonehenge 
has  been  attributed  to  the  magical  power  of  Merlin  the  enchanter;  and  the 
devil  is  often  celebrated  as  an  architect  of  first-rate  skill,  and  has  given  his 
name  to  many  a monument  of  human  power. 

“ The  columns  found  in  these  caverns  are  rudely  formed  ; and  alt.hr ugh 
much  inferior  to  Grecian  beauty,  are,  in  many  instances,  more  agreeable  to 
the  eye  of  taste  than  those  of  Egypt.  Their  capitals  represent  round  cush- 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


27 


ions  pressed  down  by  the  superincumbent  weight.  The  elegance  of  some 
of  these  columns  is  confirmed  by  Col.  Call,  formerly  chief-engineer  at  Ma- 
dras, who  urges  this  circumstance  as  a proof  of  the  early  and  high  civiliza- 
tion of  the  Hindus.  1 It  may  safely  be  remarked,’  says  he,  1 that  no  part  of 
the  world  has  more  marks  of  antiquity  for  arts,  sciences,  and  civilization,  than 
the  peninsula  of  India,  from  the  Ganges  to  Cape  Comorin.  I think  the  carv- 
ings on  some  of  the  Pagodas  and  choultries,  as  well  as  the  grandeur  of  the 
work,  exceed  any  thing  of  the  present  day,  not  only  for  the  delicacy  of  the 
chisel,  but  the  expense  of  construction  ; considering,  in  many  instances, 
to  what  distances  the  component  parts  were  carried,  and  to  what  heights 
raised.’ 

“The  column  from  a building  near  Muddumpore, as  engraved  in  Daniels’ 
Yiews,  although  of  great  antiquity,  has  the  elements  of  a beautiful  style. 
The  gradation  from  the  octangular  base  to  the  multangular  shaft,  setting  off 
to  the  circular  upper  shaft,  is  at  once  elegant,  and  possessed  of  the  greatest 
constructive  strength.  The  masculine  style  of  the  recking,  under  the  quadri- 
frontal  capital,  is  bold  and  characteristic. 

“Another  fine  example  of  a monumental  column  worthy  of  notice  is  from 
an  ancient  Indian  temple  near  to  Benares,  a splendid,  rich,  and  populous 
city,  on  the  north  side  of  the  Ganges,  which  is  here  very  broad  and  the 
banks  very  high.  The  appearance  of  Benares  from  the  water  is  represented 
by  travellers  as  being  very  beautiful.  Several  Hindu  temples  embellish  the 
banks  of  the  river,  and  many  oilier  buildings,  public  and  private,  ancient 
and  modern,  of  a style  and  execution  truly  magnificent. 

“ This  singular  and  most  beautiful  column,  which  to  the  variety  of  India 
adds  many  of  the  ornamental  graces  of  the  Grecian  style,  is  thought  by  Mr. 
Hodges,  who  made  the  drawing  whence  the  plate  in  his  work  was  engraven, 
to  have  been  of  the  age  of  Alexander.  This  eminent  artist  and  indefatiga- 
ble traveller  conceived,  from  the  striking  resemblance  which  many  of  its  parts 
bear  to  the  Greek  style,  that  it  must  have  been  executed  by  Grecian  artists 
shortly  after  Alexander’s  expedition  into  India  ; which,  according  to  Dr.  Ro- 
bertson, was  about  one  hundred  and  sixty  years  after  the  reign  of  Darius 
Hystaspes.  The  biographer  of  Apollonius  Tyraneus  [ibid.)  relates,  that 
when  he  visited  India,  three  hundred  and  seventy-three  years  after  Alexan- 
der’s expedition,  twelve  stupendous  altars  or  monumental  stones,  which  he 
erected  in  commemoration  of  his  exploits,  were  still  remaining  with  legible 
inscriptions.  Be  this  as  it  may,  the  elements  and  style  of  this  beautiful 
monument  of  antiquity  completely  bear  out  the  hypothesis  of  Mr.  Hodges. 
Its  elements,  perhaps  from  compliment  to  the  country,  are  in  every  respect 
Indian  ; its  ornaments  are  purely  Greek  ; its  base,  its  shaft,  its  capital,  are  all, 


28 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


in  shape,  situation,  and  distribution,  completely  Hindu  ; with  its  multangular 
and  mixed  circular  shaft,  its  quadri frontal  capital,  and  tress-shaped  abacus. 
Its  decorative  sculptures,  are  essentially  and  finely  Greek.  In  its  pedestal  is 
found  the  Grecian  honeysuckle  in  its  greatest  purity  ; the  angles  of  the  shaft 
are  embellished  with  the  sacred  water-leaves  of  the  Hindu  mythology;  above 
these  are  Doric  flutes  ; and  in  the  capital  are  found  the  leaves  of  the  Greek 
acanthus. 

“ For  beauty  of  outline,  graceful  selling  off  from  a square  to  an  octagon, 
and  thence  to  a circle,  for  richness  and  purity  of  style,  the  column  of  Benares 
stands  unrivalled  in  Eastern  art. 

“ A few  more  specimens  of  Indian  monumental  art  are  the  series  of  exam- 
ples from  the  early  periods  of  the  Mogul  empire,  which  exhibit  their  modes 
of  construction  both  square  and  circular,  and  prove  their  early  knowledge  of 
the  arch,  the  cupola,  and  other  difficult  and  scientific  modes  of  construction  ; 
and  to  which  the  preceding  observations  are  equally  applicable. 

“ Another  proof  of  a similarity  of  style  between  the  architecture  of  the 
ancient  Egyptians  and  Hindus,  is  their  mutually  using  lofty  spires  like  the 
obelisks  of  the  former,  and  the  monumental  towers  of  the  latter,  as  in  the 
tower  of  Allahabad,  and  the  lofiy  conical  obelisk  on  the  Shikargah,  or  hunt- 
ing-place of  Feeroz  Shah,  the  Pyramids  of  Egypt,  and  the  conical  brick 
monument  in  the  Hadjepore  district,  referred  to  and  described  in  the  last 
section. 

“ The  monumental  style  of  architecture  among  the  Greeks  comes  into 
a smaller  compass  than  most  other  nations.  The  observations  on  their  pure 
and  fine  style  will,  therefore,  be  reserved  to  another  section,  when  descanting 
on  their  sacred  buildings.  Their  principal  monuments  are  the  tower  of  the 
winds,  which  was  also  a clepsydra,  or  water  clock,  and  the  beautiful  little 
choragic  monument  of  Lysicrates,  so  celebrated  for  its  elegant  variation  upon 
the  theme  of  the  Doric  order.  Another  no  less  beautiful  is  the  choragic 
monument  of  Thrasyllus,  sometimes  called  the  Lantern  of  Demosthenes, 
so  well  known  to  every  student  of  Athenian  antiquities. 

“ The  triumphal  arches  of  the  Romans  are  among  the  grandest  architec- 
tural monuments  or  luxuries  of  this  magnificent  people.  Nothing  which 
could  tend  to  perpetuate  the  fame  of  the  conquerors  was  omitted  in  the 
design.  Some  were  constructed  with  two  and  others  with  three  openings, 
and  the  most  magnificent  were  erected  on  the  public  road  called  the  Trium- 
phal way. 

“ On  a triumph  being  decreed,  the  Roman  senate  received  the  conqueror 
at  the  Porta  Capena,  near  the  Tiber,  which  was  the  entrance  to  the  city 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


29 


from  the  Appian  way.  A brief  description  of  them,  for  they  very  nearly 
resemble  each  other,  is  all  that  the  limits  of  this  work  will  allow. 

“ The  arch  of  Augustus  at  Rimini  has  but  a single  opening,  about  thirty 
feet  in  width,  crowned  with  a pediment,  contrary  to  the  usual  practice,  which 
was  to  leave  them  flat  for  a triumphal  car.  It  is  a beautiful  specimen  of 
construction,  but  much  mutilated. 

“ The  arches  of  Titus  at  Rome  and  of  Trajan  at  Beneventi,  bear  a great 
resemblance  to  each  other.  The  former  is  composed  of  that  beautiful  com- 
posite order,  which  is  said  to  have  been  the  earliest  use  of  this  order. 

“The  arch  called  the  Arch  of  the  Goldsmiths  at  Rome  is  a curious  ex- 
ample. It  is  small  in  size,  has  but  a single  opening,  is  covered  by  a flat 
lintel,  and  is  much  embellished  by  sculpture. 

“The  arches  of  Septimus  Severus  and  of  Constantine,  are  of  three  open- 
ings. The  latter  is  embellished  with  ornaments  shamelessly  stripped  from 
the  arch  of  Trajan  ; and  from  their  absurd  application,  we  are  the  more 
disgusted  with  the  barbarism  of  the  despoilers.  The  arch  of  Severus,  the 
ruins  of  which  are  represented  in  Piranesi,  is  in  fine  preservation,  and  serves 
as  a portico  to  the  church  of  St.  George,  in  Yellario. 

“ The  Roman  style  of  architecture  possesses  more  variety  of  style  and 
buildings  than  that  of  Greece.  The  Roman  people  had  also  a more  ex- 
tended dominion,  more  personal  and  natural  pride,  and  were  more  partial  to 
show  and  magnificence,  than  the  graver  and  more  philosophical  Greeks. 
Hence  arose  the  greater  number  and  more  splendid  embellishments  of  their 
architectural  achievements. 

“ They  also  erected  edifices  to  commemorate  every  great  event;  and  much 
of  their  architecture  may  be  classed  under  the  monumental  style.  ‘When 
the  Romans  wished  to  commemorate  and  perpetuate,’  says  Tacitus,  ‘the 
remembrance  of  any  remarkable  event,  they  raised  an  altar-stone,  and  en- 
graved thereon  the  particulars  of  the  transaction.’ 

“This  great  historian  relates,  in  his  account  of  the  public  discussions 
which  ensued  in  Rome  on  the  death  of  Augustus,  that  the  objectors  to  the 
honours  paid  to  that  emperor  complained  that  the  honours  due  to  the  gods 
were  no  longer  sacred.  Temples  were  built  and  edifices  erected  to  him.  A 
mortal  man  was  adored,  and  priests  and  pontiffs  were  appointed  to  pay  him 
impious  homage.  This  species  of  homage  Augustus  was  wise  enough  to 
decline  when  alive;  and  Suetonius  says,  ‘although  Augustus  knew  that 
temples  were  often  raised  in  the  provinces  in  honour  of  the  proconsuls,  he 
allowed  none  to  be  raised  to  himself,  unless  they  were  at  the  same  time 
dedicated  to  the  Roman  people.  In  the  city  he  absolutely  refused  all  hon- 


30 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


ours  of  the  kind.’  These  facts  prove  that  the  raising  and  dedicating  a tem- 
ple was  a common,  nay,  almost  an  every-day,  transaction. 

“ Tacitus  is  perpetually  adverting  to  the  numerous  architectural  monu- 
ments of  his  public-spirited  countrymen.  But  unfortunately  their  character 
in  taste  was  inferior  both  to  their  wealth  and  their  vanity.  They  cultivated 
few  things  supremely  but  eloquence  and  the  art  of  war ; and  oratory  and 
the  sword  were  the  only  steps  to  power  and  greatness  in  Rome.  Greece 
was  fallen  into  a state  of  degeneracy.  Point,  antithesis,  and  conceit,  were 
the  delight  of  vain  preceptors  who  filled  the  streets  of  Rome,  and  held 
schools  of  declamation, — which  Cicero  properly  called  Indus  impudentice  ; 
—and  novelty,  ornament,  and  bad  taste,  crowded 'their  public  monuments. 

“With  such  a people  architecture  could  not  but  flourish;-  and  had  they, 
like  the  Greeks,  ennobled  the  profession  of  architecture  as  they  did  that  of 
the  orator,  as  fine  a taste  would  doubtlessly  have  prevailed  in  the  one  country 
as  in  the  other.  Their  very  wars  encouraged  the  arts.  Statues  and  trium- 
phal arches  followed  victory  like  a shadow  ; and  the  spoils  of  the  conquered, 
prisoners  of  war,  with  various  pictures  of  battles,  mountains,  and  rivers, 
were  displayed  with  great  pomp. 

“ Another  instance  of  the  architectural  grandeur  of  the  Romans,  on  the 
authority  of  Suetonius,  is  worth  reciting.  Augustus,  to  perpetuate  the 
memory  of  his  glorious  victory  at  Actium,  built  the  city  of  Nicopolis,  near 
the  bay  where  he  obtained  his  victory,  establishing  quinquennial  games; 
and,  having  enlarged  an  ancient  temple  of  Apollo,  adorned  it  with  naval 
spoils,  and  dedicated  it  to  Neptune  and  to  Mars. 

“On  the  death  of  Germanicus,  triumphal  arches  were  ordered  to  be 
erected  at  Rome,  on  the  Rhine,  and  Mount  Amanus  in  Syria,  with  inscrip- 
tions setting  forth  the  splendour  of  his  actions,  and  in  direct  terms  declaring 
that  he  died  in  the  service  of  his  country.  At  Antioch,  where  his  remains 
were  burned,  a mausoleum  was  erected  ; and  at  Epidaphne,  where  he  died, 
a cenotaph  was  constructed  to  his  memory.  Of  the  several  statues  and  the 
places  where  they  were  to  be  worshipped,  ‘it  would  be  difficult,’ says  Tacitus, 

1 to  give  a regular  catalogue.  It  was  farther  proposed  that  a shield  of  pure 
gold,  exceeding  the  ordinary  size,  should  be  dedicated  to  him  in  the  place 
allotted  to  orators  of  distinguished  eloquence.’ 

“ These  marks  of  respect  are  of  less  value  to  the  dead  than  to  the  living  ; 
and  those  who  witness  such  grateful  remembrances  acquire  thereby  an 
additional  stimulus  towards  rivalling  them. 

“ ‘ Victory  and  Westminster  Abbey,’ was  a sentiment  uppermost  in  the 
mind  of  Nelson  ; and  they  who  are  benefited  by  the  services  of  statesmen 
and  by  the  victories  of  warriors,  should  not  be  sparing  of  durable  monuments 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


31 


of  gratitude,  even  if  it  be  only  with  the  view  of  exciting  the  aspiration  of 
contemporaries. 

“Of  Roman  architecture,  the  concealed  author  of  Guy  Mannering  says, 
‘their  fortifications,  their  aqueducts,  their  theatres,  their  fountains,  all  their 
public  works,  bear  the  grave,  solid,  and  majestic  character  of  their  language; 
and  our  modern  labours,  like  our  modern  tongues,  seem  but  constructed  out 
of  their  fragments.’  Yet.  with  all  this  grandeur  of  conception  and  solidity 
of  execution,  their  works  surprise  more  from  their  immensity  of  size  than 
the  beauty  of  their  detail.  This  produced  an  unnatural  exaggeration  of 
style  in  all  their  arts.  Their  architecture  has  given  us  the  swollen  compo- 
site order ; their  sculpture,  the  exaggerated  style  of  the  gladiator ; and  their 
latter  poetry,  the  hyperboles  of  Lucan  and  of  Statius.  The  Colosseum 
alone  consumed  more  materials,  and  cost  more  money,  than  perhaps  all  the 
temples  of  Athens  put  together ; and  the  Roman  forum  would  possibly  have 
contained  them  all.  Imperial  Rome  vied  with  the  republic  in  architectural 
splendour,  and  Julius  Csesar  commenced  a career  of  magnificence  in  the 
provinces,  and  his  nephew  Augustus  led  the  way  among  the  emperors, 
justly  boasting  that  he  found  Rome  of  birch  and  left  it  of  marble.  It  would 
be  well  if  a British  Minerva  could  arise  in  imitation  of  the  Athenian  goddess, 
and  by  her  magic  lance  convert  the  half  burnt  bricks  and  compo  and  mastic 
of  modern  London  into  even  decent  stone  ! 

“ One  more  species  of  monumental  structures  used  by  the  ancient  Romans 
alone  remains  to  be  mentioned,  their  commemorative  columns. 

“They  have  several  still  remaining;  one,  dedicated  to  the  Emperor 
Phocas,  stands  near  the  temple  of  Concord.  It  is  of  Greek  marble,  fluted, 
and  of  the  Corinthian  order,  four  feet  diameter,  and  fifty-four  high  including 
the  pedestal.  Another  worthy  of  notice  is  that  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  erected 
by  the  Roman  senate  and  people  in  honour  of  that  emperor  for  his  victories 
over  the  Marcomanni.  Aurelius  afterwards  dedicated  it  to  his  father-in-law, 
Antoninus  Pius,  as  is  expressed  on  the  pedestal ; hence  it  is  mostly  called  the 
column  of  Antoninus.  It  is  of  the  Doric  order,  eleven  feet  six  inches  in 
diameter,  and  one  hundred  and  forty-eight  feet  high. 

“Tae  loftiest,  however,  in  Rome,  is 

‘Trajan’s  column  tall, 

From  whose  low  base  the  sculptures  wind  aloft, 

And  lead,  through  various  toils,  up  the  rough  steep, 

Its  hero  to  the  skies.’ 

Dyer. 

“This  column  is  one  of  the  most  celebrated  monuments  of  antiquity,  and 
has  endured  the  stormy  waste  of  time  upwards  of  seventeen  hundred  years. 


32 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


The  column  of  Alexandria,  commonly  called  Pompey’s  pillar,  is  about 
ninety-five  feet  in  height ; Trajan’s,  including  the  pedestal  and  statue,  one 
hundred  and  thirty-two  feet;  and  Wren’s  fine  monumental  column  near 
London  Bridge,  commemorative  of  the  destruction  and  rebuilding  of  the 
British  metropolis,  including  the  pedestal  and  vase  of  flames,  two  hundred 
and  two  feet.  The  latter  is  quoted  to  show  its  superiority  in  point  of  height 
and  size  over  those  of  ancient  Rome. 

“ British  monumental  architecture.  The  next  section  of  my  subject 
leads  us  to  the  obscure  days  of  the  ancient  British  monumental  style;  and 
I confess  the  more  I search,  the  more  I am  bewildered  in  fiction,  fable,  and 
hypothesis. 

“ The  commencement  of  the  art  in  England  was  similar  to  its  commence- 
ment in  every  other  country.  The  caverns  and  huts  of  the  aborigines  of 
these  islands  were  gradually  improved  from  mere  necessaries  of  life  to  com- 
forts and  luxuries. 

“ There  exist  in  this  country  the  most  indisputable  proofs  of  a primitive  or 
aboriginal  style  of  architecture  and  successive  introductions  of  foreign  styles 
at  various  periods  of  our  history ; and  here  again,  it  may  be  observed,  does 
architecture  prove  the  truth  of  history. 

“Egypt  may  boast  of  its  pyramids,  India  of  its  excavated  temples,  Italy 
of  its  Psestum,  and  Greece  of  its  Cyclopean  works,  alike  defying  history  and 
conjecture : yet  England  and  Ireland  possess  antiquities  as  primitive,  as 
aboriginal,  and  as  remote  from  accurate  date,  in  the  Avebury,  the  cromlechs, 
the  Stonehenge  of  England  ; the  round  towers,  the  excavations,  the  ruins 
of  the  seven  churches,  and  the  bed  of  St.  Kieven  in  Ireland. 

“ The  origin  of  the  architecture  of  a nation  is  so  intimately  connected 
with  that  of  the  nation  itself,  that  an  inquiry  into  the  one  necessarily  involves 
the  other;  therefore,  rejecting  the  fables  of  our  earlier  chroniclers,  we  must 
search  for  the  truth  in  the  monuments  themselves. 

“Sir  William  Jones,  in  his  luminous  discourse  on  the  origin  and  families 
of  nations,  says,  with  our  great  Newton,  ‘ We  must  not  admit  more  causes 
of  natural  things  than  those  which  are  true,  and  sufficiently  account  for 
natural  phenomena;’  and  that  one  pair  at  least  of  every  living  species  must 
at  first  have  been  created,  and  that  one  human  pair  was  sufficient  for  the 
population  of  our  globe,  in  a period  of  no  considerable  length — on  the  very 
moderate  supposition  of  lawyers  and  political  arithmeticians,  that  one  pair 
of  individuals  left  on  an  average  two  children,  and  each  of  them  two  more 
— is  evident  from  the  rapid  increase  of  numbers  in  geometrical  progression, 
so  well  known  to  those  who  have  ever  taken  the  trouble  to  sum  a series  of 
as  many  terms  as  they  suppose  generations  of  men  in  two  or  three  thousand 
years. 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


33 


ft  This  profound  philosopher  then  proceeds,  with  all  the  learning  and  scep- 
ticism of  a genuine  searcher  after  truth,  to  compare  the  Mosaic  account  of 
the  peopling  of  our  globe  with  probability  and  with  history ; and  comes, 
after  a series  of  incontrovertible  arguments,  to  the  supposition  that  the  children 
of  Japhet  seem  from  the  traces  of  Sclavonian  names,  and  the  mention  of 
their  having  been  enlarged-,  to  have  spread  themselves  far  and  wide,  and  to 
have  produced  the  race  which  for  want  of  a correct  appellation  we  call 
Tartarian  : the  colonies  formed  by  the  sons  of  Ham  and  Shem  appear 
to  have  been  nearly  simultaneous  ; and  among  those  of  the  latter  branch  he 
found  so  many  names  preserved  to  this  day  in  Arabia,  that  he  hesitated 
not  to  pronounce  them  to  be  the  same  people,  whom  hitherto  we  have  de- 
nominated Arabs  ; while  the  former  branch,  the  most  powerful  and  ad- 
venturous, of  whom  were  the  progeny  of  Cush,  Misr,  and  Rama,  names 
remaining  unchanged  to  this  hour  in  Sanscrit,  and  highly  revered  by  the 
Hindus,  were  in  all  probability,  the  race  denominated  Indian. 

“ From  several  tours  recently  made  in  the  most  interesting  parts  of 
Ireland  for  architectural  antiquities,  and  from  considerable  investigation 
into  its  history,  the  author  is  of  opinion  that  that  country  was  originally 
peopled  from  the  East.  The  ancient  architecture,  the  ancient  religion, 
the  ancient  language  of  Ireland  and  those  of  the  inhabitants  of  Hindostan 
and  other  oriental  countries,  coinciding  in  a wonderful  manner. 

“ Equal  coincidences  in  their  architecture  occasionally  recur  ; the  pyra- 
mids of  Egypt  have  narrow  passages  leading  to  dark  chambers  or  temples 
under  ground.  At  Benares,  the  most  ancient  seat  of  Braminical  learning; 
there  are  also  pyramids  on  a small  scale  with  subterraneous  passages, 
which  are  said  to  extend  many  miles.  These  narrow  passages  leading 
to  the  cell  or  adytum  of  the  temple  appear  to  render  the  only  apartment 
less  accessible,  and  to  inspire  the  votaries  with  more  awe.  There  we  find 
a perfect  resemblance  between  the  worship  of  the  ancient  Egyptians  and 
the  ancient  inhabitants  of  Hindustan.  The  caves  of  the  oracle  at  Del- 
phos,  of  Trophonius,  and  of  New  Grange  in  Ireland,  had  narrow  passages 
answering  the  purposes  of  those  in  Egypt  and  India;  ‘ nor  is  it  unrea- 
sonable to  suppose,’  says  Captain  Wilford  in  his  learned  dissertations  on 
Egypt  from  the  ancient  books  of  the  Hindus,  £ that  the  fabulous  relations 
of  the  Grot  in  Italy,  and  of  the  purgatory  of  St.  Patrick  in  Ireland,  were 
derived  from  a similar  practice  and  motive  which  seem  to  have  prevailed 
over  the  whole  pagan  world,  and  are  often  alluded  to  in  Scripture.’ 

“ New  Grange  is  one  among  many  caverns  in  Ireland,  which  the  au- 
thor of  this  work  has  visited.  It  is  a large  mound  or  pyramid,  surrounded 
by  a circle  of  stones,  near  the  county  town  of  Drogheda,  about  twenty-five 
5 


34 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


miles  north  of  Dublin.  The  gallery  is  sixty-two  feet  long,  and  the  arms 
of  the  cross  or  transepts  twenty  feet  each.  The  cupola  over  the  centre 
of  the  temple  at  the  intersection  of  the  cross  is  formed  of  long  flat  stones 
projecting  one  over  the  other,  till  they  meet  in  the  centre  like  one  of  the 
openings  in  the  great  Egyptian  pyramid. 

“ The  cavern  is,  he  doubts  not,  of  as  great  antiquity  as  any  in  Europe, 
and  was  a burying-place  of  the  ancient  Irish,  although  its  cross-like  form 
has  induced  some  to  think  of  the  time  of  Christianity ; on  its  first  opening, 
a gold  coin  of  the  Emperor  Yalentinian  was  found  in  it,  which  Dr. 
Llhwyd  observes  might  bespeak  it  Roman,  but  that  a rude  carving  at 
the  entry  of  the  cave  seems  to  denote  it  to  be  of  a barbarous  origin. 

“ Nothing  is  here  said  of  the  similarity  between  the  names  of  Erin 
(Ireland,)  and  Iran,  (Persia,)  conjectural  etymologies  being  too  vague  for  his- 
torical research. 

“ The  round  towers  of  Ireland,  (of  which  he  has  a list  of  nearly  seven- 
ty now  remaining  in  various  parts  of  the  island,  from  Cork  to  the  Cause- 
way, and  from  Wexford  to  Limerick,  the  greater  part  of  which  he  visited 
and  investigated,)  their  large  and  singular  cromlechs,  and  innumerable 
other  antiquities,  deserve  a course  of  investigation  to  themselves. 

“II.  Sacred  Architecture.  To  trace  fully  the  origin  and  progress 
of  sacred  architecture  among  the  antediluvians,  after  what  has  been  said 
of  the  monumental  architecture  of  that  ancient  period,  would  be  to  go  over 
almost  the  same  ground,  which  was  reviewed  in  the  early  part  of  the 
first  section  ; therefore  a brief  survey  of  these  ancient  and  problematical 
times,  with  an  account  of  the  principal  works  in  this  class  of  architecture 
and  an  analysis  of  principles,  will  be  all  that  is  necessary  for  this  portion 
of  our  work. 

“ Among  uncultivated  nations,  such  as  modern  refinement  is  pleased  to 
term  savage,  architecture  as  a fine  art  is  scarcely  known,  and  their  paint- 
ing and  sculpture  are  as  rude  as  their  manners.  We  find  those  arts,  with 
music,  dancing,  eloquence,  and  poetry,  in  every  country  and  among  every 
people  which  have  arrived  at  the  first  degree  of  civilization  ; and  mankind 
was  certainly  in  this  state  in  the  earliest  antediluvian  times,  after  the  fa- 
milies of  Adam’s  immediate  progeny  settled  themselves. 

“ The  connexion  between  architecture,  and  the  rest  of  the  arts  and 
sciences,  with  the  laws,  government,  and  manners  of  the  people,  are  cu- 
rious and  useful  subjects  of  inquiry.  Their  relations  with  the  history  of 
the  human  mind  are  clear  and  indisputable ; although  some  shallow  rea- 
soned have  affected  to  think  them  beneath  the  notice  of  statesmen  and 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


35 


philosophers,  and  that  the  fine  arts  are  to  be  considered  only  as  mere 
amusements  and  relaxations  to  superior  minds. 

« Sacred  architecture  commenced  with  the  first  adoration  of  man  to  his 
Creator.  The  first  altar  of  a single  stone  surrounded  by  our  grateful  fore- 
fathers offering  the  first  fruits  of  their  flock,  and  corn,  and  fruit,  was  the 
first  temple.  Such  were  the  cromlechs  of  Ireland  and  Britain,  which  soon 
increased  from  the  circle  of  stones  to  the  beauty  of  the  rotunda,  and  from 
the  wood-covered  temple  of  ancient  Attica  to  the  full  blown  perfection  and 
splendor  of  the  Parthenon. 

“ Idolatry  added  to  the  splendor  of  ancient  temples ; and  Ninus,  the 
first  recorded  idolater,  the  son  of  Belus  or  Nimrod,  erected  the  earliest  tem- 
ple to  the  human  gods  of  antiquity,  in  commemoration  of  his  father,  whom 
he  ordered  to  be  worshipped,  and  dedicated  a temple  to  him  as  Jupiter 
Belus.  This  temple,  which  Herodotus  describes  as  of  splendid  dimensions 
and  design,  contained  the  celebrated  brazen  statue  of  Jupiter]  Belus,  which 
was  cast  about  two  hundred  years  after  the  Hood,  and  is  the  same  idol 
mentioned  in  the  Scriptures,  under  the  name  of  Baal  and  Baal  Phegor. 

“ In  less  than  two  hundred  years  after  the  flood,  architecture  was  cultivated 
in  Chaldea,  China,  Egypt,  and  Phoenicia.  Sacred  edifices  were  among  the 
most  splendid  and  costly  of  their  productions.  Among  the  sovereigns  re- 
corded in  these  ancient  days  is  Semiramis,  the  wife  of  Ninus,  who  finished 
in  this  age  the  stupendous  walls  of  Babylon,  which  were  reckoned  among 
the  seven  wonders  of  the  world.  This  illustrious  princess,  to  whom  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  government  was  left  by  her  husband,  ascended  the  throne 
about  one  thousand  seven  hundred  years  before  the  Christian  era,  and  is  one 
of  the  earliest  examples  in  history  of  a throne  being  filled  by  a female. 

“ Diodorus  and  other  ancient  writers  relate,  that  among  the  splendid 
works  of  this  princess  were  the  statues  of  Jupiter  Belus,  Ninus  herself,  her 
son  Nimas,  and  the  chief  men  of  her  kingdom,  both  warriors  and  statesmen. 
She  also  erected  a magnificent  temple  to  Jupiter  Belus,  on  the  summit  of 
which  she  erected  three  statues  of  gold,  representing  Jupiter,  Juno,  and 
Rhea. 

<:  Many  other  similar  works  of  grandeur  and  idolatry  are  mentioned  in 
history  as  having  been  erected  by  this  princess,  of  which  the  necessary  limits 
of  this  work  will  not  find  room  even  for  enumeration.  But  it  is  well  known 
that  there  were  several  queens  of  Assyria  of  this  name  ; and  these  authors 
may  have  attributed  to  the  great  Semiramis,  the  spouse  of  Ninus,  the  works 
that  were  probably  of  another  age.  and  by  another  princess  of  the  same 
name. 

“ From  these  ancient  examples,  founded  on  the  authority  of  the  most  an- 


36 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


cient  historians,  we  find  that  sacred  architecture  flourished  in  a splendid 
manner  even  in  these  remote  ages.  None  of  these  relations,  magnificent  and 
splendid  as  they  now  are,  (not  even  the  walls  of  Babylon,  the  tower  of 
Babel,  nor  the  extent  of  ancient  Ninevah,  which  is  said  to  have  included  a 
circuit  of  nearly  sixty  miles,)  should  surprise  us  into  an  unbelief  of  their  au- 
thority from  their  stupendous  dimensions  alone  ; for  if  we  reflect  upon  the 
existing  pyramids  of  Egypt,  and  know  that  the  great  wall  of  China, 
also  a work  of  high  antiquity,  is  fifteen  hundred  miles  in  length,  forty-five 
feet  in  height,  and  eighteen  feet  in  thickness,  with  towers  of  corresponding 
proportions  and  reasonable  distances,  we  need  not  doubt  on  these  grounds. 
Here  again  we  find  architecture  bearing  testimony-to  the  truth  of  history. 

“ Architecture,  having  been  thus  successfully  cultivated  among  the  Assy- 
rians, was  carried  by  them  into  Egypt  and  other  countries  which  they  con- 
quered. 

“ ‘ The  first  temples,’  says  Wren,  ‘were,  in  all  probability,  in  the  ruder 
times,  only  little  cellas  (cells)  to  inclose  the  idol  within,  with  no  other  light 
than  a large  door  to  discover  it  to  the  people  when  the  priest  saw  proper ; 
and  when  he  went  in  alone  to  offer  incense,  the  people  paying  adoration 
without  doors ; for  all  sacrifices  were  performed  in  the  open  air,  before  the 
front  of  the  temple  : but  in  the  southern  climates  a grove  was  necessary,  not 
only  to  shade  the  devout,  but,  from  the  darkness  of  the  place,  to  strike  some 
terror  and  recollection  in  their  approaches  ; therefore,  trees  being  always  an 
adjunct  to  the  cellee,  the  Israelites  were  commanded  to  destroy  not  only  the 
idols,  but  also  to  cut  down  the  groves  which  surrounded  them  : but — trees  de- 
caying with  time,  or  not  equally  growing,  though  planted  at  first  in  good 
order,  or  possibly  not  having  room — when  the  temples  were  brought 
into  cities,  the  like  walks  were  represented  with  stone  columns,  support- 
ing the  more  durable  shade  of  a roof  instead  of  the  arbor  of  spreading 
boughs ; and  still  in  the  ornaments  of  stone  work  was  imitated,  as  well 
as  the  materials  would  admit,  both  in  the  capitals,  friezes,  and  mould- 
ings, a foliage,  or  sort  of  work  composed  of  leaves,  which  remains  to 
this  age.’ 

“This  was,  in  our  ingenious  countryman  Sir  Christopher  Wren’s 
opinion,  the  true  origin  of  colonnades  environing  the  temples  in  double  and 
single  aisles  ; and  there  is  no  doubt  but  it  was  equally  the  origin  of  the  orders, 
instead  of  being  derived  from  the  proportions  of  the  human  body,  as  have 
been  assigned  to  them  by  imaginations  more  fanciful  than  correct,  and  to 
which  they  bear  no  reasonable  analogy.  What  resemblance  is  there  be- 
tween a Doric  column  and  a man  of  Herculean  proportions,  an  Ionic  column 
and  a matron,  or  a Corinthian  column  and  a beauteous  virgin?  who,  by  the 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


37 


way,  is  more  overloaded  with  entablature  and  has  more  to  sustain  than 
either  of  the  other  orders. 

“ In  looking  at  a Grecian  Doric  column,  it  is  asked,  referring  at  the  same 
time  to  the  historical  origin  of  the  order,  does  it  more  resemble  a trunk  of  a 
tree  cut  off  immediately  above  the  root  and  at  the  beginning  of  the  spread- 
ing of  the  branches,  or  the  proportion  of  a man  ? or  at  the  Ionic,  which  the 
Yitruvians  called  a decent  matron  with  her  locks  parted  over  the  forehead, 
does  it  not  more  resemble  a slimmer  trunk  oramented  with  an  abacus,  and 
the  spirals  formed  of  the  ornamented  back?  The  Corinthian  certainly 
more  resembles,  in  sober  practice,  the  foliage  of  a tree  than  the  braided  locks 
of  a youthful  female. 

“ Few  nations  of  antiquity  cultivated  sacred  architecture  with  greater  de- 
votion or  with  more  splendour  than  did  the  ancient  Egyptians,  particularly  in 
that  part  of  their  country  called  Thebais,  or  Upper  Egypt.  The  chief 
pride  of  this  country  was  its  principal  city,  Thebes.  The  Thebais  is  the 
most  southerly  part  of  Egypt,  nearest  to  Ethiopia,  and  was  nearly  as  large  as 
the  other  two  parts  of  Egypt  together,  including  in  its  boundaries  all  the 
country  on  both  sides  of  the  Nile  down  to  Heptanomis. 

“ At  the  time  of  the  Trojan  war,  Thebes  was  reckoned  the  most  opulent 
and  the  best  peopled  city  in  the  world.  Among  the  principal  edifices  of  the 
Thebais  was  the  magnificent  palace  and  temple  of  Memnon,  which,  accord- 
ing to  Strabo,  stood  in  the  city  of  Abydus,  the  second  city  to  Thebes,  about 
seven  miles  and  a half  to  the  west  of  the  Nile ; that  a celebrated  temple  of 
Osiris  was  near  to  it,  that  it  was  also  famed  for  a deep  well  or  pool  of  water, 
with  winding  steps  all  round  it ; that  the  stones  used  in  it  were  of  an  aston- 
ishing magnitude,  and  the  sculpture  on  them  excellent. 

“ Among  other  principal  structures  which  embellished  this  portion  of 
Egypt  was  the  palace  of  Ptolemy,  at  Ptolemais,  a city  which  he  decorated 
with  many  costly  sacred  buildings.  Under  the  Ptolemies  the  style  of  archi- 
tecture in  Egypt  sustained  a complete  revolution,  and  their  buildings  ap- 
proached the  style  which  was  afterwards  so  beautifully  refined  by  the  Greeks, 
who  brought  it  to  complete  perfection  ; yet  they  never  reached  that  pure  and 
noble  style  which  distinguished  the  tasteful  inhabitants  of  Attica. 

“ These  works  were  probably  executed  by  Greek  architects,  called  into 
Egypt  by  the  Ptolemies  and  their  successors.  This  conjecture  appears  the 
better  founded  since  a modern  traveller,  Granger,  describes  a temple  which 
he  had  seen  of  the  Corinthian  order ; and  farther  observes,  in  speaking  of 
a palace  which  he  believes  made  part  of  ancient  Thebes,  that  the  capitals  of 
the  columns  were  of  the  composite  order,  highly  finished. 

“ The  Thebes  just  alluded  to  was  distinguished  from  Thebes  in  Boeotia 


38 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


by  the  epithet  Hecatonpylos,  the  hundred-gated  Thebes.  It  was  not  only 
the  most  beautiful  city  in  all  Egypt,  but  is  supposed  by  Diodorus  and  other 
ancient  writers  to  have  surpassed  all  others  of  its  time  in  the  known  world, 
as  well  for  the  splendor  of  its  buildings  as  for  extent  and  the  number  of  its 
inhabitants. 

“ Homer  says  that  Thebes  was  able  to  furnish  twenty  thousand  chariots 
of  war.  By  this  we  may  judge  of  the  number  of  inhabitants  which  it  con- 
tained. Tacitus  relates,  that  when  Germanicus  visited  its  magnificent 
ruins,  there  were  still  to  be  seen,  on  ancient  obelisks,  a pompous  description, 
in  Egyptian  characters,  of  the  wealth  and  grandeur  of  the  place.  From 
the  account  of  an  elderly  priest,  who  interpreted  -to  him  the  meaning  of  the 
hieroglyphics,  it  appeared  that  Thebes  at  one  time  contained  within  her 
walls  no  less  than  seven  hundred  thousand  men  capable  of  bearing  arms. 
The  objects,  however,  which  most  concern  the  present  work,  are  its  sacred 
edifices.  Its  four  principal  temples  were  of  an  immense  size  and  of  a singu- 
lar beauty  of  workmanship.  The  gold,  ivory,  precious  stones,  and  other 
costly  and  valuable  ornaments  with  which  they  were  decorated,  were  stripped 
off  and  carried  away  by  the  Persians  when  Cambyses  conquered  and  ra- 
vaged Egypt. 

“ At  Cnuphis,  a city  of  the  Thebais,  so  called  from  the  god  of  that  name, 
was  a magnificent  temple  dedicated  to  that  idol.  At  Carnack,  another  large 
city  near  Thebes,  there  are  still  the  remains  of  a superb  temple  of  Jupiter, 
now  the  most  perfect  in  that  part  of  Egypt.  The  magnificent  temple  of 
Apollo,  at  Apollonopolis,  was  one  hundred  and  seventy  feet  long,  one  hun- 
dred and  eighty  feet  broad,  and  seventy  feet  high,  as  appears  by  the  ruins 
which  still  remain.  The  characters  of  all  these  buildings  bear  a close  re- 
semblance to  each  other,  and  are  standard  characteristics  of  Egyptian  archi- 
tecture. The  inhabitants  of  Tentyra,  or  Dandera,  were  great  worshippers 
of  Iris  and  of  Venus.  From  the  splendid  ruins  of  this  city  it  appears  that 
their  temples  were  more  beautiful  and  splendid,  and  in  a better  style  of  art, 
than  any  others  in  Egypt. 

“ The  resemblance  between  many  ancient  and  distant  nations,  in  their 
language,  manners,  customs,  architecture,  and  sculpture,  are  very  great,  but, 
when  first  causes  are  investigated,  by  no  means  surprising.  Sir  William 
Jones,  in  his  invaluable  discourses  which  are  the  concrete  of  many  volumes, 
observing  on  the  language,  manners,  and  antiquities  of  the  ancient  inhabit- 
ants of  India,  comes  to  the  indisputable  result  that  they  had  an  immemorial 
affinity  with  the  ancient  Persians,  Ethiopians,  and  Egyptians ; the  Phoe- 
nicians, Greeks,  and  Tuscans;  the  Scythians,  or  Goths,  and  Celts;  the 
Chinese.  Japanese,  and  Peruvians : and  it  will  be  our  endeavor  to  show 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


39 


m the.  course  of  this  article,  in  which  the  architecture  of  these  various  coun- 
tries are  respectively  discussed,  that  their  ancient  buildings  all  corroborate 
and  prove  this  important  fact  in  the  history  of  mankind. 

£‘  The  singular  and  extraordinary  subterraneous  temples  at  Elephante, 
Ellora,  and  other  parts  of  India,  are  curious  objects  of  investigation,  and  are 
alluded  to  in  the  first  section  of  this  article.  Mr.  Goldingham,  one  of  the 
honorable  the  East  India  Company’s  astronomers  at  Fort  St.  George,  who 
had  applied  himself  with  great  assiduity  to  the  study  of  the  antiquities 
of  Hindustan,  visited  the  Elephanta  Cave  in  1795,  and  published  an  inter- 
esting- and  faithful  account  of  this  wonderful  effort  of  human  skill  in  the 
fourth  volume  of  the  Asiatic  Researches.  This  gentleman  argues  with 
great  ability  in  favour  of  its  having  been  a Hindu  temple  ; but  General  Carnac 
of  Calcutta,  who  introduced  and  prefaced  Mr.  Goldingham’s  paper,  and  un- 
derstood the  antiquities  of  India  in  no  common  way,  does  not  assent  to  this 
opinion.  These  immense  excavations,  cut  out  of  the  solid  rock,  appeared 
to  the  general  to  be  operations  of  too  great  labor  to  have  been  executed  by 
the  hands  of  so  feeble  and  effeminate  a race  of  beings  as  the  aborigines  of 
India  have  generally  been  held,  and  still  continue  to  this  day  ; and  that  the 
few  figures  which  remain  entire,  represent  persons  totally  distinct  in  exterior 
from  the  present  Hindus,  being  of  a gigantic  size,  having  large  prominent 
faces,  and  bearing  much  resemblance  to  the  Abyssinians,  who  inhabit  the 
country  on  the  west  side  of  the  Red  Sea  opposite  to  Arabia. 

11  There  is  no  tradition,  says  the  general,  of  these  caverns  having  ever 
been  frequented  by  the  Hindus  as  places  of  worship  ; and  at  this  period,  he 
adds,  on  his  own  authority,  that  no  poojah,  or  sacred  adoration,  is  ever  per- 
formed in  any  of  them,  and  that  they  are  scarcely  ever  visited  by  the  natives. 
He  says  that  he  recollects  particularly  the  Ragonath  Row,  a Bramin  versed 
in  the  archaiology  of  the  East,  when  at  Bombay,  did  not  hold  them  in  any 
degree  of  veneration  ; and  yet  an  intelligent  writer  in  the  Archaiologia  (vol. 
vii.  p.  286,  &c.,)  who  visited  the  Cave  of  Elephanta  in  1782,  states  that  he 
was  accompanied  by  a sagacious  Bramin,  a native  of  Benares,  who,  though 
he  had  never  been  in  it  before  that  time,  recognized  at  once  all  the  figures, 
was  well  acquainted  with  the  parentage,  education,  and  life  of  every  deity  or 
human  personage  there  represented,  and  explained  with  fluency  the  mean- 
ing of  the  various  symbols  by  which  the  images  were  distinguished.  This 
is  undoubtedly  a clear  proof  that  their  mythology  of  the  present  day  is  not 
materially  different  from  that  delineated  on  the  walls  of  these  excavations  ; 
the  most  remarkable  of  which  is  at  Elephanta,  a small  island  in  the  harbor 
of  Bombay.  An  elephant  of  black  stone,  large  as  the  life,  is  seen  near  the 
landing  place,  and  probably  gave  its  name  to  the  island.  The  cavern  is 


40 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


about  three  quarters  of  a mile  from  the  beach  ; the  path  leading  to  it  passes 
through  a valley  ; the  hills  on  either  side  are  beautifully  clothed,  and,  except 
when  interrupted  by  the  tuneful  notes  of  the  birds  which  dwell  upon  the 
island,  a solemn  stillness  prevails,  which  admirably  prepares  the  mind  for 
contemplating  the  approaching  scene. 

“ The  cave  is  formed  in  a hill  of  stone,  is  about  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
five  feet  square,  and  nearly  fifteen  feet  high.  Its  massy  roof  is  supported  by 
rows  of  columns,  which  are  disposed  with  great  regularity.  Gigantic  figures, 
in  relief,  are  sculptured  on  the  walls ; which,  as  well  as  the  columns,  are 
shaped  out  of  the  solid  rock  by  artists  of  some  ability,  and  of  unquestionable 
and  astonishing  perseverance. 

The  excavations  of  Salsette,  which  is  about  ten  miles  north  of  Bombay, 
are  other  astonishing  specimens  of  the  sacred  architecture  of  ancient  India. 
The  artist  employed  by  Governor  Boon  to  make  drawings  of  them,  as- 
serted that  it  would  require  the  labor  of  forty  thousand  men  for  forty  years 
to  excavate  and  carve  them.  They  are  situate  near  to  Ambola,  a village 
about  seven  English  miles  distant  from  Tanna. 

“ This  excavation  resembles  that  of  Elephanta  both  in  style,  design,  and 
execution  ; but  being  wrought  in  a softer  rock,  the  sculptures  are  not  so  per- 
fect as  that,  nor  of  another  at  Canara,  which  is  situate  about  ten  English 
leagues  from  Tanna  on  the  north  of  the  excavations  at  Ambola,  a similar 
example  of  subterraneous  sacred  architecture.  There  are  others  in  the 
country,  but  none  equal  in  beauty  to  those  just  mentioned.  Some  of  them 
are  very  lofty,  and  appear  from  apertures  in  the  sides,  as  if  for  floors,  that 
they  have  been  used  for  dwellings,  which  surmise  is  strengthened  by  the  en- 
tire absence  of  sculpture  in  them. 

“ The  excavated  pagoda  of  Indur  Subha,  or  Sabha,  is  also  a fine  speci- 
men of  the  sacred  architecture  of  this  ancient  people.  It  is  situated  near 
Dowlatabad ; in  which  neighborhood  is  also  another,  called  the  pagoda  of 
Raraswa  Rama  Saba.  Dowlatabad  is  a fortified  town  in  the  Deccan  of  Hin- 
dustan, fifteen  miles  from  Aurungabad,  the  capital  of  Dowlatabad  or  Arned- 
nagure.  They  are  also  cut  out  of  the  natural  rock,  and  for  the  space  of  nearly 
two  leagues  there  is  little  else  to  be  seen  than  a succession  of  those  subter- 
raneous pagodas,  in  which  there  are  thousands  of  figures,  appearing  from 
the  style  of  their  sculpture  to  have  been  of  ancient  Hindu  origin. 

it  The  height  of  the  excavated  pagoda  of  Indur  Subha  is  forty  feet,  its 
depth  fifty-four  feet,  and  its  breadth  forty-four.  The  height  of  the  obelisk 
by  the  side  of  the  pagoda  is  twenty-nine  feet,  including  its  pedestal  and  a 
group  of  human  figures  which  is  on  the  top.  The  obelisk  is  fluted  and  orna- 
mented with  some  taste,  and  has  a light  appearance.  On  the  other  side  is 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


41 


the  representation  of  an  elephant,  whose  back  just  rises  above  the  front 
wall,  but  is  without  rider  or  howda.  The  plans  of  these  excavated  temples 
are  as  regular  as  if  they  were  built ; and  the  piers,  pilasters,  or  square  co- 
lumns, are  equidistant  and  sculptured  in  a bold  and  original  style.  Compare 
the  excavated  temples  of  India  with  the  constructed  ones  of  Egypt,  and 
their  resemblance  will  be  found  most  striking.  Both  these  styles  are  evidently 
derived  from  excavations,  and  in  both  are  found  close  intercolumniations, 
low  and  short  architraves,  and  columns  of  short  stature  rudely  sculptured. 
Nor  is  there  any  very  apparent  difference  to  show  whether  the  construction 
be  not  an  excavation,  or  the  excavation  a construction. 

“ Before  leaving  the  sacred  architecture  of  Hindustan,  the  beautiful  and 
picturesque  ruins  of  the  ancient  mosque  of  Dacca  should  not  be  omitted. 
This  metropolis  is  a city  of  Bengal  lying  on  the  banks  of  the  Ganges, 
is  the  third  city  in  the  province  for  extent  and  population,  and  has  large 
manufactories  of  the  finest  muslins  and  silks.  This  interesting  part  of 
India  was  not  visited  by  the  Messrs.  Daniells,  nor  till  recently  by  any 
European  artist.  The  striking  peculiarities  of  this  fine  specimen  of  sa- 
cred architecture,  to  which  my  attention  was  first  called  by  the  beautiful 
engravings  of  the  antiquities  of  Dacca,  by  Mr.  Landseer,  are  their  light- 
ness and  elegance,  their  square  rectangular  panellings,  which  are  pecu- 
liar to  these  structures,  their  arched  perforations  somewhat  resembling  the 
Gothic,  their  lofty  light  octangular  minarets,  the  beautiful  play  of  light 
and  shade  over  the  elevation,  and  the  elegantly  proportioned  cupola  which 
crowns  and  finishes  the  whole,  renders  it  a valuable  study  for  the  young 
architect,  and  equally  interesting  to  the  amateur  and  antiquary. 

“ During  the  early  period  of  the  chronology  of  this  section,  that  is, 
about  one  thousand  five  hundred  and  eighty-two  years  before  the  Christian 
era,  Cecrops  left  Egypt,  to  colonize  ancient  Greece,  where  some  authors 
assert  that  he  built  twelve  cities.  He  taught  the  Greeks  the  art  of  build- 
ing, and  founded  a city,  which  he  named  after  himself,  Cecropia  ; and  to 
put  his  new  colony  into  a state  of  perfect  security,  erected  a fortress  on 
rising  ground,  where  they  afterwards  built  the  temple ; and  to  about  the 
same  period  is  attributed  the  founding  of  Troy  by  Scamander. 

“ Athens,  Sparta,  Cranaus,  and  Grecian  Thebes,  also  owe  their  origin 
to  this  period.  Egypt  was  overcome  by  the  ^Ethiopians,  but  its  indestructi- 
ble edifices  bade  defiance  to  the  flames. 

“ Tyre  was  built  about  the  year  1060  before  Christ,  and  a curious  exam- 
ple of  their  sacred  architecture  is  in  the  temple  of  Dagon,  which  the  Bible 
represents  to  have  been  destroyed  by  Samson,  who  pulled  it  down,  and 
destroyed  himself  and  all  the  people  who  were  assembled  to  worship  the 
6 


42 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY.' 


idol  and  to  make  sport  with  their  captive.  The  temple  is  described  to  have 
had  two  main  pillars  or  columns  on  which  it  stood,  and  that  Samson 
standing  between  the  two  pulled  them  down,  and  hurled  the  temple  into 
inevitable  destruction. 

“ The  structure  of  such  a building  has  puzzled  many  a commentator 
and  critic,  but  Sir  Christopher  Wren,  whose  learning  and  reading  were 
equal  to  his  skill  in  architecture  and  mathematics,  has  given  so  clear  an 
elucidation  as  to  render  its  mode  of  construction  perfectly  intelligible.  In 
considering  what  this  fabric  must  be,  that  could  at  one  pull  be  demolished, 
he  conceived  it  to  be  an  oval  amphitheatre,  the  scene  in  the  middle, 
where  a vast  roof  of  cedar  beams  resting  round  upon  the  walls,  centered 
all  upon  one  shoit  architrave,  that  united  two  cedar  pillars  in  the  middle; 
one  pillar  would  not  be  sufficient  to  unite  the  ends  of  at  least  one  hundred 
beams  that  tended  to  the  centre ; therefore  he  says  there  must  be  a short 
architrave  resting  upon  two  pillars,  upon  which  all  the  beams  tending  to 
the  centre  of  the  amphitheatre  might  be  supported.  Now  if  Samson,  by 
his  miraculous  strength  pressing  upon  one  of  these  pillars,  moved  it  from 
its  basis,  the  whole  roof  must  of  necessity  fall. 

£<  Before  leaving  this  portion  of  the  work  a few  lines  must  be  devoted 
to  the  mausoleum  or  temple  of  Teshoo  Lama  at  Thibit  and  the  temple 
or  pagoda  of  Shoomadoo  at  Pegu,  both  sacred  buildings  of  high  antiquity. 

“ The  mausoleum  requires  no  particular  description : its  characteristics 
are  the  most  ancient  and  simplest  Chinese,  its  proportions  in  good  taste, 
and  its  mode  of  execution  excellent. 

“ The  other,  which  is  a large  and  splendid  conical  structure,  is  the 
great  temple  or  pagoda,  called  Shoomadoo  Praw,  situated  between  India 
and  China,  but  partaking  more  of  the  style  of  the  latter  people  than  of 
the  Hindus.  Its  pyramidal  shape  is  graceful,  its  apex  approaches  even 
to  the  elegant,  and,  except  a tendency  to  the  florid  style,  its  accessories 
are  rich  and  beautiful. 

£t  This  singular  building  is  called  the  temple  of  Shoomadoo,  or  the 
Golden  Supreme  ; compounded  of  the  Birman  word  shoo,  golden,  and 
madoo,  a corruption  of  the  Hindu  word,  maha  deo.  Its  addition  Praw 
signifies  in  the  Birman  language  Lord,  and  is  always  annexed  to  the 
name  of  every  sacred  edifice.  As  a farther  proof  of  this  hypothesis  of 
the  Indian  derivation  from  Egypt  may  be  added,  that  phra  is  the  proper 
name  under  which  the  Egyptians  first  adored  the  sun,  before  it  received 
the  allegorical  appellation  of  Osiris,  or  author  of  time. 

“ This  extraordinary  sacred  edifice,  according  to  Col.  Symes,  who  de- 
lineated and  described  it  a few  years  since,  is  bulit  upon  a double  terrace, 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


43 


one  raised  above  the  other.  The  lower  and  greater  terrace  is  quadran- 
gular, and  raised  about  ten  feet  above  the  natural  level  of  the  ground. 
The  upper  terrace  is  smaller,  of  a like  shape,  and  raised  about  twenty 
feet  above  the  lower. 

“ The  length  of  one  side  of  the  lower  terrace  is  about  one  thousand 
three  hundred  and  ninety  feet,  and  of  the  upper  six  hundred  and  eighty- 
four.  These  terraces  are  ascended  by  flights  of  stone  steps,  and  on  each 
side  are  dwellings  of  the  Rahans,  or  priests.  The  temple  itself  is  an  octan- 
gular pyramid,  built  of  brick  and  fine  shell-mortar,  without  any  excavation  or 
cavity  of  any  sort.  Each  side  of  the  octagon,  at  the  base,  measures  one 
hundred  and  sixty-two  feet.  This  immense  breadth  diminishes  abruptly 
to  a spiral  top,  and  may  not  be  inaptly  compared  in  shape  to  a speaking 
trumpet. 

In  defining  the  styles  which  prevailed  at  this  period  of  history,  we 
should  consider  that  the  orders  are  not  only  Greek  and  Roman,  but 
Phoenician,  Hebrew,  Egyptian,  and  Assyrian  ; therefore  are  founded  upon 
the  experience  of  all  ages,  promoted  by  the  vast  treasures  of  all  the  great 
monarchs,  and  skill  of  the  greatest  artists  and  geomometricians,  every  one 
emulating  each  other : experiments  in  this  kind  being  very  expensive  and 
errors  incorrigible,  is  the  reason  that  the  principles  of  architecture  should 
be  founded  more  on  the  study  of  antiquity  than  a dependence  on  fancy. 
Beauty,  firmness,  and  convenience,  are  the  principles ; the  first  two  de- 
pend upon  geometrical  reasons  of  optics  and  statics,  the  third  only  makes 
variety. 

<£  Wren  well  observes,  that  there  are  natural  causes  of  beauty.  Beau- 
ty is  a harmony  of  objects  begetting  pleasure  by  the  eye.  There  are  two 
causes  of  beauty,  natural  and  customary.  Natural  beauty  arises  from 
geometry,  consisting  in  uniformity  (that  is  equality)  and  proportion;  cus- 
tomary beauty  is  begotten  by  the  use  of  our  senses,  to  those  objects  which 
are  usually  pleasing  to  us  for  other  causes,  as  familiarity  or  particular  in- 
clination breeds  a love  to  things  not  in  themselves  lovely.  Here  lies  the 
great  occasion  of  errors ; here  is  tried  the  architect’s  judgment ; but  al- 
ways the  true  test  is  natural  or  geometrical  beauty. 

l£  £ Geometrical  figures,’  he  continues,  £ are  naturally  more  beautiful  than 
other  irregulars ; in  this  all  consent  as  to  a law  of  nature.  Of  geometri- 
cal figures,  the  square  and  the  circle  are  most  beautiful ; next  the  paralle- 
logram and  the  oval.  Straight  lines  are  more  beautiful  than  curved  ; next 
to  straight  lines  equal  and  geometrical  flexures ; an  object  elevated  in  the 
middle  is  mote  beautiful  than  if  depressed.’  (See  Parentalia,  p.  352,  and 
Elme’s  Life  of  Wren.) 


44 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


“ The  Egyptian,  Hindu,  Chinese,  and  other  styles,  having  no  immediate 
relation  to  the  present  section,  the  next  step  will  be  to  the  wisdom  of  the 
orders  as  practised  by  the  Greeks.  The  Greek  style  of  architecture  is 
divided  into  three  modes  or  orders  ; namely,  the  j Doric,  the  Ionic,  and 
the  Corinthian  ; named  from  the  countries  which  gave  them  birth,  or  are 
said  to  have  been  the  first  to  use  them.  The  sacred  edifices  of  the  Greeks 
are  the  most  ancient  as  well  as  the  most  beautiful  of  all  the  buildings  of 
that  tasteful  people  that  have  reached  our  times.  The  great  superiority 
of  the  Greeks  in  architecture,  is  to  be  traced  to  causes  similar  to  those 
which  occasioned  their  pre-eminence  in  every  thing  else  ; namely,  a deep 
investigation  into  first  principles,  and  an  accurate  perception  of  the 
elements  of  all  that  they  attempted  to  execute. 

“ A similar  investigation,  and  a similar  perception  or  knowledge,  and 
nothing  else,  will  produce  the  like  effects  in  our  country  and  in  our  times. 
In  Greece,  no  painter  proceeded  without  acquiring  a knowledge  of  anato- 
my and  drawing.  Their  sculptors  carved  their  own  marble,  and  their 
architects  understood  design,  construction,  perspective,  and  composition,  and 
had  a clear  preconception  of  effect. 

“ It  has  been  said  that  the  Greeks  did  not  understand  anatomy,  and  did 
not  dissect ; that  we  are  uncertain  as  to  their  knowledge  of  geometry,  be- 
cause Euclid,  the  earliest  author  in  that  science  with  whom  we  are  at 
present  acquainted,  lived  considerably  after  the  construction  of  their  best 
edifices ; and  that  our  certainty  as  to  their  knowledge  of  perspective  is 
still  less.  It  has  also  been  asserted  in  corroboration  that  the  Greeks  had 
laws  prohibiting  dissection  ; therefore  they  did  not  dissect.  ‘ The  exception,’ 
says  the  great  Lord  Coke,  £ proves  the  rule,’  therefore  even  did  not  those 
sculptural  wonders  which  now  grace  our  national  museum,  and  the  ana- 
tomical details  which  are  so  abundant  in  the  poems  of  Homer,  prove  the 
depth  of  their  anatomical  knowledge,  this  very  exception  proves  that  they 
did  dissect,  and  that  it  was  necessary  to  enact  laws  against  the  practice. 
Among  the  most  remarkable  proofs  of  the  deep  knowledge  of  the  Greeks 
in  anatomy,  the  Theseus  and  the  Ilyssus  of  the  Elgin  collection,  exhibit 
the  perfection  of  art,  and  show  the  most  scientific  research  into  anatomy  and 
the  natural  history  of  man. 

« The  divisions  and  subdivisions  of  the  orders  will  come  more  appropriate- 
ly in  another  section  : therefore  we  proceed  to  the  history  of  sacred  architec- 
ture among  the  Greeks. 

“ The  religion  and  laws  of  the  Greeks  are  acknowledged  to  have  been  de- 
rived from  the  creeds  and  institutions  of  Egypt,  and  their  styles  of  architec- 
ture, in  spite  of  the  hypotheses  and  splendid  fables  of  Vitruvius,  were  no  less 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


45 


adopted  and  improved  from  the  same  source.  Herodotus  assures  us  that  the 
worship  of  the  greatest  part  of  the  first  gods  that  were  adored  in  Greece,  came 
from  Egypt,  and  that  all  antiquity  regarded  the  Egyptians  as  the  first  who 
paid  a solemn  and  public  worship  to  the  Deity,  and  therefore  were  the  first  in- 
ventors of  sacred  architecture.  In  this  derivation  he  excepts  only  Neptune, 
and  says  farther,  that  the  worship  of  this  deity  was  derived  from  Libya.  Sa- 
turn, Jupiter,  Ceres,  &c.  were  the  first  gods  of  Greece  ; hence  it  is  probable 
that  the  Titans  introduced  these  deities,  and  consequently,  that  those  princes 
came  from  Egypt:  for  the  worship  of  Saturn,  Jupiter,  and  Ceres  was  esta- 
blished, according  to  Diodorus,  from  time  immemorial.  The  Titans  also 
taught  the  Greeks  the  first  elements  of  the  arts  and  sciences,  and  their  earliest 
sacred  edifices  were  first  borrowed  from  them. 

“ Cadmus,  who  lived  about  1500  years  before  the  Christian  era,  and  was 
the  grandson  of  Agenor,  king  of  Tyre,  brought  the  arts  and  sciences  into 
Greece,  five  hundred  and  sixty-two  years  after  the  building  of  the  walls  of 
Babylon.  In  the  part  of  Greece  where  he  settled,  he  built  a city,  which  he 
named  after  the  celebrated  Thebes  in  Egypt,  and  doubtlessly  imitated  the 
Egyptian  style  of  architecture  in  his  earliest  structures.  In  corroboration  of 
this,  Pliny  expressly  states  that  Dtedalus,  the  architect  of  the  Grecian  laby- 
rinth, imitated  that  of  Egypt  in  every  respect.  This  same  Thebes  after- 
wards became  so  celebrated,  that  Germanicus  made  a journey  purposely  to 
survey  its  magnificent  ruins. 

“ Ogyges,  Inachus  the  first  king  of  Argos,  Cecrops,  Cadmus,  Lelex,  and 
Danaus,  founded  successively  the  kingdoms  of  Athens,  Argos,  Sparta,  and 
Thebes  ; but  it  was  in  the  colonies  of  Asia  Minor  that  sacred  architecture 
began  to  exhibit  its  greatest  splendor.  The  invention  of  the  first  two  Grecian 
orders  is  attributed  solely  to  the  inhabitants  of  these  countries,  as  their  names 
Doric  and  Ionic  evidently  import.  The  Corinthian  did  not  appear  in  its 
full  perfection  till  long  after  these  two  orders. 

“ It  seems  to  have  been  invented  in  Greece,  properly  so  called,  and  is  the 
richest,  the  most  magnificent,  and  the  most  elegant  of  all  the  Grecian  orders, 
and  perhaps  of  any  that  architecture  has  ever  invented. 

“ The  first  materials  used  by  the  Greeks  in  their  sacred  buildings  was 
timber;  next  brick,  which  they  learned  the  art  of  making  from  the  Egyp- 
tians. Stone  next  succeeded,  as  in  the  temple  of  Apollo  at  Delphon,  built 
by  Amphyction ; and  afterwards,  when  they  had  accomplished  the  complete 
glories  of  their  style,  they  immortalized  it  in  marble. 

“ The  character  of  the  genuine  architecture  of  the  Greeks,  in  their  bright- 
est days,  the  days  of  Pericles,  Alexander,  Plato,  Aristotle,  Apelles,  Phidias, 
Sophocles,  and  Euripides,  is  that  of  an  imposing  grandeur  united  to  pleasing 


46 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


simplicity,  elegance  of  ornament,  and  harmony  of  proportion  in  an  eminent 
degree,  together  with  a certain  relation  or  coincidence  of  parts,  as  necessary 
in  works  of  art  as  in  those  of  literature. 

“ Sacred  architecture  was  carried  to  the  highest  perfection  by  the  Greeks. 
Indeed,  the  greater  part  of  their  fine  and  pure  style  which  has  reached  our 
times  may  be  arranged  under  this  class  or  department  of  civil  architecture. 

“ Besides  the  beautiful  simplicity  and  elegance  of  style  which  distinguished 
the  Greeks  above  all  other  nations,  their  able  and  sufficient  style  of  construc- 
tion is  worthy  of  study  for  its  simplicity  and  for  effecting  its  purposes  by  legiti- 
mate means,  although  they  did  not  aim  at  the  arch,  or  vault,  by  which  their 
successors,  the  Romans,  so  signalized  themselves.  And  as  their  works  sur- 
passed all  others,  so  did  the  beauty  and  excellence  of  their  materials. 

“ In  the  time  of  Pericles  the  Athenians  used  Pentelican  marble,  and  a 
species  from  Mount  Hymettus,  in  their  buildings.  The  sort  called  Parian 
was  the  most  admired,  but  it  was  almost  exclusively  appropriated  to  sculp- 
ture. Bronze  was  also  occasionally  used  for  building  in  some  of  their  early 
structures ; and  Pausanius  mentions  several  buildings  of  this  costly  material, 
particularly  a small  temple  of  Minerva,  called  on  this  account  Chalcoecus, 
which  was  standing  in  his  days  at  Lacedsemon.  Stones  of  an  almost  in- 
credible size,  after  the  manner  of  the  Egyptians,  were  also  amongst  their 
earliest  modes  of  construction,  whence  originated  the  tradition  that  they 
were  the  works  of  the  Cyclops.  In  later  periods  they  used  stones  of  a smaller 
size,  of  irregular  polygon  figures  of  four,  five,  and  six  sides,  joined  with  the 
utmost  care  and  nicety. 

“ The  walls  of  the  ancient  city  of  Peestum,  are  thus  built  of  huge  poly- 
haedric  masses.  Chandeler,  the  Grecian  traveller,  discovered  walls  of  this 
method  of  construction  near  to  Troezene,  Epidaurus,  and  Ephesus;  and 
Dr.  Pococke  also  in  the  island  of  Mytelene. 

“ As  architecture  and  mechanical  skill  advanced,  they  used  cubical  and 
oblong  stones,  with  which  they  constructed  their  walls  after  two  methods : one 
called  Isodomon,  which,  as  the  word  implies,  was  with  courses  of  equal  thick- 
nesses and  of  equal  lengths;  and  the  other  Pseudisodomon,  where  the 
heights,  or  thicknesses,  and  lengths  of  the  courses  differed.  The  first,  or 
true  manner,  was  always  used  in  their  grandest  buildings,  as  being  the  most 
beautiful ; and  the  latter,  or  false  method,  where  beauty  of  appearance  was 
of  less  consequence. 

“ Another  and  still  inferior  mode  was  also  used  by  them  for  works  of  less 
consequence,  and  was  called  Emplecton.  The  front  stones  only,  in  this  man- 
ner of  construction,  were  wrought ; and  the  interior  was  left  rough,  and 
filled  in  with  stones  of  various  sizes  or  with  rubble.  It  was  principally  used 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


47 


in  walls  of  great  thicknesses,  such  as  those  wherewith  they  surrounded  their 
cities.  In  some  instances  they  built  their  walls  of  brick  or  common  stone, 
and  faced  them  with  marble.  Cement  was  seldom  used  by  the  Greeks  in 
their  best  works ; as  the  size  and  ponderosity  of  the  blocks,  and  the  great 
exactness  with  which  they  were  squared,  were  sufficient  for  solidity,  and 
made  more  perfect  and  complete  joints. 

“ The  ancient  Greek  architects,  were,  moreover,  very  careful  that  every  or- 
nament or  decoration  which  they  used  should  always  accord  in  character  and 
situation  with  the  order  and  the  building  to  which  they  applied  it ; and  both 
the  order  and  the  ornament  were  characteristic  of  the  destination  of  the  edi- 
fice : never  building  a prison  of  the  Corinthian  order,  nor  a theatre  of  the 
Doric.  The  external  ornaments  were  bold,  simple,  and  distributed  with  a 
judiciously  sparing  hand.  The  pediment  of  the  temple  and  the  metopes  of 
the  frieze,  as  in  the  temples  of  Minerva,  and  of  Theseus  at  Athens,  and  of 
Jupiter  Panhellenius  at  Egina,  were  decorated  with  bassi  relievi,  and  the  an- 
gles of  the  walls  with  pilasters  or  antee.  The  porticoes  which  surrounded 
their  public  squares  in  which  they  often  exhibited  pictures,  statues,  and  other 
works  of  art,  appear  to  have  been  more  elaborately  decorated  than  their  tem- 
ples, their  theatres  of  declamation,  and  gymnasia  ; and,  with  regard  to  interior 
ornaments,  little  can  be  known,  from  the  general  destruction  of  those  parts. 

“ The  Greek  style  of  architecture  may  be  classed  under  five  different  epochs, 
according  to  the  historical  periods  which  gave  rise  to  five  corresponding  styles 
or  modes.  The  first  embraces  the  works  of  Trophonius,  who  built  the  tern 
pie  at  Delphos,  and  those  of  Agamedes,  and  Daedalus. 

“ This  early  period  of  Grecian  history,  which  may  be  termed  the  heroic 
age,  does  not  furnish  any  remains  of  architecture  of  positive  certainty.  Yet 
those  lights  which  are  wanting  from  the  deficiency  of  existing  ancient  ruins, 
are  supplied  in  some  degree  by  ancient  writers,  who,  however,  are  not  suffi- 
ciently explicit  or  circumstantial  in  those  details  which  alone  could  give  us  the 
information  we  require. 

“ Homer,  for  instance,  in  speaking  of  the  palace  of  Priam,  says  that  it  had 
at  the  entrance  fifty  apartments,  well  built,  in  which  the  princes,  his  sons, 
lodged  with  their  wives,  and  that  it  was  surrounded  by  porticoes,  wrought 
with  the  greatest  care.  At  the  bottom  of  the  court  there  were  twelve  other 
apartments  for  the  sons-in-law  of  that  monarch,  and  a magnificent  dwelling 
for  Paris,  who  is  reported  to  have  been  a skilful  architect.  These  all  tend  to 
prove  that  the  architecture  was  cultivated  as  an  art  in  Asia  Minor,  although 
it  affords  us  no  information  as  to  style  or  taste. 

“ The  second  epoch  includes  from  the  time  of  Rheecus  of  Samos,  and 
Theodorus,  who  lived  about  seven  hundred  years  before  the  Christian  era, 


48 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


down  to  the  time  of  Pericles  ; in  which  period  flourished  Ctesiphon,  Metagenes, 
Andronicus,  Eupolemus,  Callimachus,  Libon,  and  other  eminent  and  cele- 
brated architects. 

“ The  third  epoch  is  the  period  from  Pericles  to  that  of  Alexander  the 
Great ; under  the  former,  architecture  reached  the  summit  of  its  perfection — 
a perfection  of  which  Sir  William  Jones,  with  his  accustomed  truth  and  per- 
spicuity, says,  ‘ in  those  elegant  arts,  which  are  called  fine  and  liberal,  it  is 
really  wonderful  how  much  a single  nation,  has  excelled  the  whole  world  : 
I mean  the  ancient  Greeks,  whose  sculpture,  of  which  we  have  excellent  re- 
mains both  on  gems  and  in  marble,  no  modern  tool  can  equal ; whose  archi- 
tecture we  can  only  imitate  at  a servile  distance,  but  are  unable  to  make  one 
addition  to  it  without  destroying  its  graceful  simplicity ; whose  poetry  still  de- 
lights us  in  youth,  and  amuses  us  at  a maturer  age ; and  of  whose  painting 
and  music  we  have  the  concurrent  relations  of  so  many  grave  authors,  that 
it  would  be  strange  incredulity  to  doubt  their  excellence.’  In  this  brilliant  pe- 
riod flourished  Hippodamus  of  Miletus,  Phidias,  Ictinus,  and  Callicrates,  who 
were  conjointly  employed  in  the  building  of  the  great  temple  of  Minerva  at 
Athens  called  the  Parthenon. 

“ The  fourth  great  epoch  is  that  which  extends  from  the  decease  of  Alex- 
ander the  Great  to  that  of  Augustus.  Alexandria,  under  the  dominion  of 
the  Grecian  monarchs,  was  the  principal  school  of  the  great  architects  of  this 
period,  among  whom  Dinocrates — whose  proposal  of  forming  Mount  Athos 
into  a statue  of  Alexander  the  Great,  and  subsequent  founding  of  Alexandria, 
is  celebrated  by  Vitruvius — and  Sostrates  were  the  most  eminent. 

“ ‘ I cannot  conceive,’  says  Spence,  in  his  entertaining  anecdotes  of  the 
great  men  of  his  time,  £ how  Dinocrates  could  ever  have  carried  his  proposal 
of  forming  Mount  Athos  into  a statue  of  Alexander  the  Great  into  execution. 

1 For  my  part,’  replied  Pope,  ‘ I have  long  since  had  an  idea  how  that 
might  be  done  ; and  if  any  body  would  make  me  a present  of  a Welsh  moun- 
tain, and  pay  the  workmen,  I would  undertake  to  see  it  executed.  I have 
quite  formed  it,’  he  continued,  ‘in  my  imagination.  The  figure  must  be  in 
a reclining  posture,  because  of  the  hollowing  that  would  otherwise  be  neces- 
sary, and  for  the  city’s  being  in  one  hand.  It  should  be  a rude  unequal  hill, 
and  might  be  helped  with  groves  of  trees  for  the  eye-brows,  and  a wood  for 
the  hair.  The  natural  green  turf  should  be  left  wherever  it  would  be  neces- 
sary to  represent  the  ground  he  reclines  on.  It  should  be  so  contrived  that 
the  true  point  of  view  should  be  at  a considerable  distance.  When  you  were 
near  it,  it  should  still  have  the  appearance  of  a rough  mountain  ; but,  at  the 
proper  distance,  such  a rising  should  be  the  legs,  and  such  another  an  arm. 
It  would  be  best  if  a river,  or  rather  a lake,  were  at  the  bottom  of  it,  for  a rivu- 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


49 


let  that  came  through  his  other  hand  to  tumble  down  the  hill  and  discharge 
itself  into  it.’ 

“ It  is  somewhat  singular  that  Mr.  Pope  should  have  thought  this  mad 
project  practicable ; but  it  appears  that  there  are  still  persons  who  dream 
of  such  extravagant  and  fruitless  undertakings.  Some  modern  Dinocrates 
had  suggested  to  Buonaparte  to  have  cut  from  the  mountain  called  the 
Simplon  an  immense  colossal  figure,  as  a sort  of  genius  of  the  Alps.  This 
was  to  have  been  of  such  an  enormous  size  that  all  the  passengers  should 
have  passed  between  its  legs  in  a zigzag  direction. 

“ During  this  fourth  epoch  are  found  the  names  of  Saurus  and  Batrachus, 
who  executed  several  works  in  Rome  ; not  being  allowed  to  inscribe  on 
them  their  names,  used  the  expedient  of  carving  a lizard  and  a frog  upon 
the  pedestals,  as  anagrams  of  their  names,  c-dvpoi  signifying  m Greek  a 
lizard  and  /3 a frog. 

“ The  fifth  and  last  great  epoch  of  Grecian  architecture  comprehends 
from  the  time  of  Augustus,  in  whose  days  Vitruvius  is  supposed  to  have 
flourished,  until  the  removal  of  the  seat  of  empire  to  Constantinople. 

“ The  pure  architecture  of  Greece  is  superior  to  all  that  preceded  it,  and 
all  that  has  been  designed  and  executed  since.  Its  architects  and  sculp- 
tors never  violated  the  inherent  properties  of  any  object  for  an  artificial 
effect ; while  those  of  Rome  perpetually  committed  such  violations,  dete- 
riorating all  that  they  laid  their  hands  upon.  The  irregular  and  fantastic 
variety  of  their  orders  proves  the  truth  of  this  accusation,  and  powerfully 
opposes  itself  to  the  beautiful  simpicity  of  the  Greeks.  The  Romans  exe- 
cuted works  containing  gross  infringements  of  the  sounder  laws  of  archi- 
tectural taste,  which  have,  however,  obtained  a general  and  lasting  reputa- 
tion. 

“ Such  is  the  Colosseum,  such  is  the  theatre  of  Marcellus,  such  are  their 
amphitheatres,  such  is  the  Pantheon  ; structures  that  excite  wonder,  and 
seize  upon  our  admiration,  certainly  not  for  the  faults  with  which  they 
abound,  but  in  spite  of  them. 

“ The  architecture  of  the  Romans  undoubtedly  possesses  splendor,  vast- 
ness of  conception,  a noble  carelessness  of  expense,  and  a profuse  redun- 
dancy of  decoration  in  all  their  public  buildings ; which,  as  Quintilian  ob- 
serves, is  more  easily  cured  than  barrenness  : and  if  they  are  to  be  praised 
for  their  great  knowledge  of  scientific  construction,  and  bold  command  of 
the  arch,  the  vault,  and  the  cupola,  they  most  amply  deserve  it ; but  cer- 
tainly they  were  never  eminent  for  that  purity  of  taste,  elegance,  and  sim- 
plicity of  invention  and  construction,  which  characterize  the  Greeks  above 
all  others.  Hence  are  to  be  found  so  many  more  models  of  a fine  style 
7 


50 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


among  the  Greeks  than  among  the  Romans.  Give  me  simplicity  and  good 
design,  and  keep  your  ornaments  for  children 

“ The  Romans  are  indebted  for  all  the  excellencies  of  their  style  of 
architecture  to  the  Greeks,  and  its  deficiencies  and  redundancies  are  all 
their  own.  Their  earliest  architects  were  all  Greeks,  and  it  was  not  till 
late  in  their  history  that  they  made  any  figure  in  the  arts  of  design.  Thus 
all  the  Roman  architects,  with  Vitruvius  at  their  head,  follow  the  plans  that 
were  laid  down  for  them  by  the  great  master-spirits  of  Greece.  They 
every  where  imitate  the  Greeks,  and  every  where  misrepresent  them,  as 
may  be  seen  in  comparing  the  Doric  of  the  temple  of  Minerva  Parthenon 
with  that  of  the  theatre  of  Marce’lus,  the  very  best  of  the  Roman  specimens, 
and  the  Ionic  capitals  selected  from  Greek  and  Roman  specimens.  Com- 
pare them  together,  and  they  will  be  found  comments  upon  each  other ; 
the  one  showing  the  commanding  excellence  of  purity  of  style,  the  other  the 
glitter  and  frivolity  of  false  decoration. 

“ That  which  Cicero  says  so  truly  of  the  qualities  requisite  to  a fine  oration 
may  as  correctly  be  applied  to  the  qualities  necessary  to  a fine  piece  of  archi- 
tecture : ‘ Let  ornament,’  he  says,  ‘ be  manly  and  chaste,  without  effeminate 
gaiety  or  artificial  coloring let  it  shine  with  the  glow  of  health  and  strength.’ 
“ Had  the  taste  of  Vitruvius  been  as  refined  and  as  unsophisticated  as  that 
of  Cicero,  the  Roman  purity  in  architecture  would  have  been  upon  an 
equality  with  that  of  their  fine  and  majestic  language.  But  on  the  contrary 
we  find  very  many  of  their  buildings  frivolously  and  effeminately  rich  in 
ornament,  and  miserably  deficient  in  invention  and  good  taste.  For  with 
fillets  upon  fillets, — with  bands  over  beads,  and  beads  over  bands,  cavettos 
and  cimas  both  right  and  reversed, — with  ornamented  plain  faces  (excuse  the 
bull)  carvings  dentals  and  denticals,  drop  flowers  and  festoons,  and  other 
tawdry  misplaced  and  misapplied  ornaments, — they  disfigured  their  spolia- 
tions from  the  Greeks.  As  examples,  look  at  any  Roman  specimens,  par- 
ticularly that  of  the  temple  of  Concord  at  Rome,  and  compare  it  with  any 
of  its  lovely  originals  from  Greece.  Of  these  expensive  barbarisms  may  be 
truly  said,  that  they  are 

‘ Of  such  a frightful  mien, 

As  to  be  hated  need  but  to  be  seen.’ — Pope. 

Yet  such  things  find  their  admirers  even  in  our  days,  and  we  need  not 
travel  out  of  the  metropolis  to  witness  them.  Little  however,  was  it  to  have 
been  expected,  after  the  many  introductions  to  this  country  of  the  pure  forms 
and  fine  proportions  of  Greece,  by  Stuart,  Wilkins,  Cockerell,  and  other 
eminent  architectural  travellers,  that  Batty,  Langley,  and  Barromini,  would 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


51 


in  our  days  have  driven  the  Athenian  antiquities  from  our  shelves,  and  the 
purity  of  Grecian  art  from  our  streets,  and  substituted  imitations  of  the  alto- 
gether inferior  productions  of  Rome  and  modern  Italy. 

“ To  the  sacred  architecture  of  Greece,  as  exhibited  in  their  various 
temples,  we  are  indebted  for  the  purest  and  best  canons  of  architecture  that 
the  world  has  ever  seen. 

“ The  elements  of  this  pure  style  are  three  classes  or  modes  called  orders, 
while  those  of  the  Roman  style,  its  despoiling  imitator,  are  five. 

“ Nature  dictates  but  three  essential  modes  of  building,  which  are  clearly 
and  distinctly  visible  in  every  style  of  their  art ; namely,  the  robust , the 
chaste , and  the  elegant.  Those  three  essentials  in  the  art  the  Greeks  have 
embodied  in  their  Doric,  their  Ionic,  and  their  Corinthian.  But  the  Romans, 
restless  after  innovation,  sighing  for  more  worlds  of  art  to  conquer,  and 
pining  after  more  than  all,  would  have  one  more  robust  than  the  robust,  and 
one  more  elegant  than  the  elegant.  Hence  their  Tuscan,  which  is  but,  as  a 
musician  would  say,  a variation  upon  the  theme  of  the  Doric ; and  the  Com- 
posite, which  is  any  thing  but  an  improvement  upon  the  Corinthian. 

“ Architecture,  that  is  to  say,  classical  architecture,  is  generally  divided  into 
certain  modes  or  systems  called  orders,  which  are  named  from  the  country 
whence  they  are  supposed  to  have  been  derived  or  invented ; as  the  Tuscan 
from  Tuscany,  the  Doric  from  Doria,  the  Ionic  from  Ionia,  the  Corinthian 
from  Corinth,  and  the  Composite  or  Roman  from  Rome.  Now,  although 
the  preceding  orders  form  five  in  number,  yet  three  only  are  to  be  received  as 
such,  in  the  pure  or  Grecian  style  of  architecture.  The  Tuscan,  as  I have 
already  said,  and  will  hereafter  prove  when  I arrive  at  the  Roman  system,  is 
merely  a variation  of  the  Doric ; and  the  Composite  a corruption  of  the 
Corinthian,  and  too  much  like  it,  both  in  essence  and  in  character,  to  be  dis- 
tinguished by  an  untutored  eye,  or  to  be  acknowledged  a distinct  genus  or 
order  by  the  critic. 

“ Thomson,  who  may  be  called  the  poet  of  the  fine  arts,  and  whose  taste 
was  formed  by  a long  residence  at  the  seats  of  ancient  arts,  with  the  son  of 
the  Lord  Chancellor  Talbot,  beautifully  and  characteristically  depicts  the 
three  orders  in  his  ‘ Liberty.’  In  the  second  part  of  that  poem  he  personifies 
public  virtue  in  Greece  as  a goddess,  and  the  sister  arts  of  painting,  sculpture, 
and  architecture,  as 

‘ The  Graces  they 
To  dress  this  sacred  Venus.’ 

And  farther  on  he  states  that  architecture  was 

‘ By  Greece  refined, 

And  smiling  high  to  bright  perfection  brought; 


52 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


Such  thy  sure  rules,  that  Goths  of  every  age, 

Who  scorned  their  aid,  have  only  loaded  earth 
With  labored  heavy  monuments  of  shame, 

Not  these  gay  domes  that  o’er  thy  splendid  shore 
Shot,  all  proportion,  up. 

First,  unadorned 

And  nobly  plain,  the  manly  Doric  rose  ; 

Th’  Ionic  then,  with  decent  matron  grace, 

Her  airy  pillar  heaved  ; luxuriant  last, 

The  rich  Corinthian  spread  her  wanton  wreath. 

The  whole  so  measured  true,  so  lessened  off 
By  fine  proportion,  that  the  marble  pile,. 

Formed  to  repel  the  still  or  stormy  waste 
Of  rolling  ages,  light  as  fabrics  looked 
That  from  the  magic  wand  aerial  rise. 

These  were  the  wonders  that  illumined  Greece 
From  end  to  end.’ 

“ These  orders  undoubtedly  derived  their  origin  from  the  chance-built 
huts  and  cabins  of  the  first  inhabitants  of  the  world,  and  which  as  doubtlessly 
contained  in  themselves  the  constituent  elements  of  architecture,  till  drawn 
forth  by  the  hand  and  eye  of  taste,  as  the  marble  block  contained  the  statue 
whence  Canova  drew  forth  his  shining  Hebe  ever  young.  As  we  cannot 
derive  our  knowledge  of  the  origin  of  these  elements  of  style  from  a better 
source  than  from  Vitruvius,  he  must  be  our  guide  through  this  obscure 
path.  In  my  description  of  the  orders  I must  confine  myself  briefly  and 
generally  to  the  three  classical  orders  of  antiquity. 

“ Vitruvius  our  best  authority,  indifferent  as  he  is  for  historical  truth, 
informs  us  that  when  Dorus,  the  son  of  Helenus  and  the  nymph  Optice, 
reigned  over  Achaia  and  all  Peloponnesus,  he  built  in  the  ancient  city  of 
Argos  a temple  to  Juno,  which  was  formed  by  chance  of  the  order  since 
called  Doric.  Afterwards  the  Athenians,  according  to  the  responses  of  the 
Delphian  Apollo,  by  the  common  consent  of  all  Greece,  sent  out  thirteen 
colonies  at  one  time  into  Asia,  and  appointed  a leader  to  each  colony,  they 
gave  the  command  to  Ion  the  son  of  Xanthus  and  Creusa,  whom  Apollo  of 
Delphos  also  acknowledged  to  be  his  son.  These  colonies  were  led  into  Asia 
by  Ion,  who  seized  upon  the  country  of  Caira,  where  he  built  the  large 
cities  of  Ephesus,  Miletus,  Myunta,  Priene,  Samos,  Teos,  Ac. 

“ These  states  were  called  from  their  leader  Ionia  ; and  here  they  began  to 
erect  and  dedicate  temples  to  their  deities  : and  first  they  built  one  to  Apollo 
Panionios  in  this  manner  in  Achaia,  and  which  they  named  Doric,  because 
they  had  first  observed  it  in  the  Dorian  states.  In  this  temple  they  intended 
to  use  columns,  but  not  knowing  their  symmetries,  and  while  considering 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


53 


how  they  should  proportion  them  so  that  they  might  support  the  weight,  and 
at  the  same  time  have  a graceful  appearance,  they  measured  the  length  of 
the  human  foot,  which  as  they  found  to  be  nearly  the  sixth  part  of  the  height 
of  a man,  they  used  this  proportion  for  their  columns,  making  the  thickness 
of  the  shaft  at  the  bottom  one-sixth  part  of  the  height  including  the  capital. 
Thus  the  Doric  column,  having  the  proportions  of  the  human  body,  began 
to  be  used  in  building  with  solidity  and  beauty. 

“ Afterwards  being  desirous  of  building  a temple  to  Diana,  they  invented 
a new  order  on  similar  principles,  using  tire  proportions  of  a female.  They 
made  the  bottom  diameter  the  eighth  part  of  its  height ; and  that  it  might 
appear  the  more  graceful,  they  added  mouldings  round  its  base  to  represent 
the  shoe,  and  volutes  to  the  capitals  to  imitate  the  twisted  braids  of  hair 
falling  on  each  side,  and  the  cymatium  and  encarpee,  the  locks  of  hair 
braided  and  arranged  on  each  side  over  the  forehead.  They  also  fluted  the 
shaft  from  bottom  to  top  like  the  folds  in  the  garments.  Thus  were  the  two 
species  or  orders  of  columns  invented ; one  representing  the  strength  and 
simplicity  of  man,  the  other  the  elegance  and  fine  proportions  of  woman. 
This  latter  order  was  called  lo?iic,  says  Vitruvius,  because  it  was  invented 
by  the  Ionians.  But  subsequent  architects,  who  wished  for  lighter  propor- 
tions, have  often  made  the  heights  of  the  Doric  column  seven  diameters, 
and  that  of  the  Ionic  eight  and  a half,  destroying  the  character  and  beauty 
of  each. 

“ The  third  Grecian  order,  which  is  called  the  Corinthian , is  imitative 
of  the  delicacy  of  shape  and  slenderness  of  proportion  of  a young  virgin. 
‘ For  the  limbs,’  says  Vitruvius,  £at  that  early  age,  are  formed  more  slightly, 
and  admit  of  more  graceful  decoration.’  The  invention  of  its  capital  is  thus 
related  by  Vitruvius : 

“ A Corinthian  virgin  just  marriageable,  being  attacked  by  a fatal  disorder, 
died.  After  her  interment,  her  nurse  collected  some  vases  and  toys,  which 
pleased  her  when  living,  put  them  in  a basket,  and  placed  it  on  the  top  of  her 
tomb,  covering  it,  that  it  might  endure  the  longer  in  the  open  air,  with  a tile. 
The  basket  being  placed  on  a root  of  acanthus,  depressed  it  in  the  middle, 
occasioning  the  leaves  and  stalks  which  grew  up  in  the  spring  to  encircle 
and  twine  round  the  basket ; but  being  resisted  by  the  angles  of  the  tile,  they 
convolved  at  the  extremities  in  the  form  of  volutes.  This  was  seen  by  Calli- 
machus, called  on  account  of  his  taste  and  skill  in  sculpture  Catatechnos, 
who,  delighted  with  the  novelty  of  its  figure  and  its  delicate  and  appropriate 
form,  encircled  by  the  beautiful  foliage,  formed  from  its  model  a new  capital 
to  some  columns  he  had  sculptured  for  Corinth,  thus  composing  this  most 
elegant  and  beautiful  of  the  orders. 


54 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


“ The  above  hypothesis  is  nothing  but  a splendid  fable:  notwithstanding 
Mr.  Wilkins  says,  that  of  all  the  opinions  entertained  by  Vitruvius  on  the 
origin  of  the  orders  of  architecture,  that  relating  to  the  invention  of  the  Co- 
rinthian capital  seems  alone  entitled  to  any  attention ; both  because  the 
reputed  age  of  Callimachus,  its  supposed  inventor,  approaches  within  certain 
limits  to  the  first  recorded  instances  of  the  introduction  of  the  order  into 
Greece  ; and  because  the  recital  is  less  open  to  the  charge  of  absurdity  and 
fiction.  Notwithstanding  this,  the  account  just  quoted  of  the  origin  of  the 
Doric  and  the  Ionic  is  not  only  less  open  to  the  charge  of  absurdity  and 
fiction,  but  may  be  considered  as  nearly  historically  true ; while  the  Vitru- 
vian  hypothesis  of  the  vase  of  toys,  the  projecting  tile,  and  the  accommodating 
acanthus,  appears  more  worthy  the  reveries  of  a poetT  and  a fine  poetical 
episode  it  certainly  is,  than  of  the  historian  of  such  an  art  as  architecture. 

“The  Corinthian  order  is  clearly  derived  from  the  architecture  of  Egypt 
adapted,  refined,  and  naturalized.  First,  Cecrops,  the  founder  of  Athens, 
was  an  Egyptian  ; next  Daedalus,  the  earliest  Athenian  artist,  visited  Egypt 
to  investigate  and  study  the  principles  of  the  fine  arts.  Added  to  these  facts, 
it  is  also  well  known  that  the  Greeks  borrowed  their  laws,  their  manners, 
and  their  customs  from  the  Egyptians,  purifying  them  in  the  alembics  of  their 
own  brighter  genius. 

“ A colony  at  first  always  imitates  its  mother  country ; and  afterwards  as 
surely  does  all  in  its  power  to  render  its  origin  forgotten.  When  we  refer  to 
examples  of  both  styles,  surely  the  Egyptian  origin  of  the  Corinthian  capital 
cannot  be  denied.  Their  elements  are  incontestably  the  same,  namely,  a 
vase  surrounded  by  flowers  and  covered  with  an  abacus.  The  story  of  the 
Corinthian  girl  was  probably  invented  by  a Grecian  poet,  and  related  as 
authentic  by  Vitruvius. 

“ Mons.  Quatremere  de  Quincy,  secretary  to  the  French  academy  of  arts, 
corroborates  this  opinion,  and  supposes  even  the  Ionic  capital  also  to  have 
been  borrowed  from  Egypt.  He  metamorphoses  the  ears  of  the  head  of  Isis, 
in  an  Egyptian  capital,  into  the  Ionic  volutes ; the  braids  of  hair  on  the 
forehead  into  the  helices,  or  threads  of  the  capital ; the  throat  into  the  alarino, 
or  necking  ; and  so  on. 

“ Following  this  ingenious  hypothesis,  the  Doric  may  also  be  said  to  have 
been  drawn  from  the  rude  types  or  prefigurations  of  the  Egyptians,  which 
contain  all  the  primitive  elements  of  the  beautiful  examples  of  the  Greeks. 
Belzoni  farther  corroborates  it  by  saying,  that  the  Isis  of  the  Egyptians  is 
the  same  personage  with  the  lo  of  the  Greeks  ; therefore  capitals  designed 
after  the  head  of  this  goddess  are  Isislike,  Iolike,  or  Ionic. 

“ Referring  to  any  of  the  ancient  Grecian  temples,  it  will  be  seen  that  the 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


55 


metopes,  or  spaces  between  the  trylyphs  in  the  entablature,  are  filled,  and 
sometimes  with  sculpture,  as  in  the  Parthenon,  which  were  occupied  by  those 
wonderful  efforts  of  the  chisel,  now  in  the  British  Museum,  representing 
battles  of  the  Centaurs  and  Lapithse.  These  metopes  in  the  earliest  Greek 
buildings  were  open,  and  the  trylyphs  justly  represented  the  ends  of  the 
beams  of  which  they  are  the  types ; as  the  following  quotations  from  the 
Iphigenia  in  Tauris  proves.  Pylades  is  counselling  Orestes  to  scale  the 
Doric  temple  of  Diana,  and  says  to  his  friend, 

‘ But  when  the  eye 

Of  night  comes  darkening  on,  then  must  we  dare, 

And  take  the  polished  image  from  the  shrine, 

Attempting  all  things ; and  the  vacant  space 
Between  the  trylyphs,  mark  it  well,  enough 
Is  open  to  admit  us  ; by  that  way 
Attempt  we  to  descend.’ 

Iph.  in  Tau.  Potter’s  Vers. 

“The  first  general  division  of  architecture  being  its  orders,  the  next 
division  in  sacred  architecture  is  the  several  orders  of  temples  or  sacred 
edifices.  The  orders  of  sacred  buildings  or  temples  of  the  Greeks  are  seven  : 
first,  the  Antis ; second,  the  Prostyle  ; third,  the  Am phiprostyle ; fourth,  the 
Periptoral ; fifth,  the  Dipteral;  sixth,  Pseudo  Dipteral;  and  seventh,  the 
Hypaethral. 

“ The  first  order  of  sacred  buildings,  called  antis,  is  that  wherein  the  ends 
of  the  flank  walls  finish  in  pilasters  or  ant®.  Of  this  order  is  Inigo  Jones’s 
fine  Tuscan  portico  of  St.  Paul’s  Church,  Covent  Garden. 

“ The  second  or  prostyle  differs  from  the  antes  by  having  columns  in 
front  of  the  pilasters  or  antee;  both  these  orders  of  temples  have  only  a por- 
tico at  one  end. 

“The  third  or  amphiprostyle  order  of  temples  is  nearly  the  same  as  prostyle; 
but,  as  its  name  imports,  has  a posticum  or  portico  at  the  rear  the  same  as 
the  principal  front. 

“ The  fourth  order,  the  periptoral,  has  also  porticoes  at  both  ends  of  six 
columns  each,  and  eleven,  counting  the  angle  columns  at  each  side.  It  has, 
as  its  name  imports,  columns  all  round  about  the  cell,  as  in  the  temple  of 
Theseus,  which  by  the  way  has  two  columns  in  flank  more  than  the  rules 
of  Vitruvius  prescribe. 

“ The  fifth  or  dipteral  order,  which  Vitruvius  places  after  the  pseudo  dip 
teral,  is  octastyle,  or  eight  columned,  like  the  portico  of  the  Parthenon,  but 
has  a double  row  of  columns  all  round  the  cell. 

“In  the  sixth,  that  is,  the  pseudo  dipteral,  or  false  dipteral,  the  porticoes 
are  octastyle,  or  eight  columned,  in  front,  and  on  each  side  fifteen  columns, 


56 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


including  those  of  the  angles.  The  Parthenon  is  of  this  order  of  sacred 
buildings,  but  has  seventeen  columns  on  the  sides ; for  the  ancient  architects 
of  Greece  did  not  servilely  follow  every  dogmatical  rule  of  the  critics,  yet  in 
their  variations  they  never  lost  the  true  spirit  of  the  original. 

“ The  hypaethral  is  the  seventh  order  of  sacred  buildings,  and  is  decastyle, 
or  ten  columned,  both  in  front  and  rear ; the  other  parts  are  distributed  the 
same  as  in  the  dipteral,  but  it  has  a double  row  of  columns  in  its  interior,  one 
higher  than  the  other,  continued  on  all  sides,  and  resembling  an  interior 
portico.  The  middle  part  has  no  roof.  A fine  specimen  of  this  order  of  tem- 
ples is  to  be  found  in  that  of  Jupiter  Olympus  at  Athens,  and  in  one  of  the 
three  at  Paestum.  In  Rome  there  is  not  a single  example  of  the  hypaethral 
order. 

“ Before  leaving  the  pure  sacred  architecture  of  Greece,  a short  space  must 
be  devoted  to  that  of  its  colonies  and  other  distant  parts. 

“The  ancient  temple  at  Corinth  is  an  architectural  structure  of  unknown 
antiquity ; it  is  of  the  Doric  order,  and  the  proportion  of  its  columns,  from 
actual  measurement,  is  shown  in  Aikin’s  Essay  on  the  Doric  Order.  Its 
character  is  simple,  pure,  and  bold,  inferior  to  the  three  principal  examples 
found  at  Athen=,  but  still  partaking  of  the  purest  characteristics  of  the 
order. 

“Among  other  curious  and  interesting  ruins  are  the  three  ancient  temples 
of  Paestum.  One  of  them  differs  from  every  other  temple  in  the  world, 
having  nine  columns  in  the  front,  with  a central  range  down  the  middle  of 
the  cell,  the  use  of  which  appears  to  have  been  to  support  the  roof. 

“ The  central  or  hypaethral  temple  is  generally  supposed  to  have  been 
dedicated  to  Neptune,  the  tutelar  divinity  of  Paestum  or  Possidonia.  Mr. 
Wilkins  thinks  it  to  have  been  a temple  of  Jupiter,  from  its  being  of  the 
hypaethral  order,  which  is  a class  of  building  generally  confined  to  the  temples 
of  Jupiter.  Its  columns  possess,  in  common  with  all  its  other  parts,  the 
Greek  character  in  the  highest  degree ; and  there  is  no  doubt  of  its  being 
coeval  with  the  earliest  migration  of  the  Greeks  to  the  south  of  Italy.  These 
examples,  with  that  of  Corinth,  possess  the  characteristic  energy  of  the  early 
style  of  the  Greeks,  which  may  be  distinguished  from  their  later  and  more 
finished  style  by  the  following  definitions ; namely,  a shaft  diminishing 
rapidly  and  of  low  stature,  a large  and  massy  capital  with  a very  bold  pro- 
jection of  the  abacus,  a necking  composed  of  three  grooves,  and  an  extremely 
massive  entablature  of  nearly  one-half  the  height  of  the  column. 

“ The  author  of  the  Pleasures  of  Memory,  in  some  lines  of  characteristic 
energy,  written  at  Paestum.  in  March,  1815,  says  of  these  temples: 


A R C II I T E C T U R A L HISTORY.. 


57 


“ ‘ They  stand  between  the  mountains  and  the  sea, 

Awful  memorials  ! but  of  whom  we  know  not. 

Time  was  they  stood  along  the  crowded  street, 

Temples  of  gods ! and,  on  their  ample  steps, 

What  various  habits,  various  tongues  beset 
The  brazen  gates  for  prayer  and  sacrifice  ! 

Time  was,  perhaps,  the  third  was  set  for  justice, 

And  here  the  accuser  stood,  and  there  the  accused  ; 

„ And  here  the  judges  sat,  and  heard  and  judged  ; 

All  silent  now  ! as  in  the  ages  past, 

Trodden  under  foot,  and  mingled  dust  with  dust.’ 

They  are  indeed  silent  yet  speaking  memorials  of  time  and  eternity.  Of 
Paestum  and  its  twice-blowing  roses,  what  lover  of  poetry  has  not  heard  of 
those  lovely  flowers  which 

“ ‘ Now  a Virgil  now  an  Ovid  sang, 

Poestum’s  twice-blowing  roses  ?’ 

“ The  next  division  of  this  section  is  the  analysis  of  the  Etruscan  school 
of  architecture,  which  is,  however,  so  lost  in  the  lapse  of  ages,  that  it 
leaves  but  little  room  for  architectural  research. 

“ The  Etruscans  are  generally  reported  to  have  been  equally  distinguished 
in  architecture  as  in  the  other  arts  of  design.  The  Romans  employed  Etrus- 
can architects  in  the  building  of  the  capiiol,  the  temple  of  Jupiter,  and  many 
other  large  and  splendid  edifices.  The  walls  of  Etruscan  cities  were  lofty 
and  constructed  of  huge  polyhaedric  masses  of  masonry  ; remains  of  which 
have  been  discovered  at  Volaterra,  Cortona,  Feesula,  and  other  parts  of  an- 
cient Etruria. 

“ The  earliest  temples  of  Etruria  were  small  in  size,  being,  in  many  in- 
stances, not  able  to  contain  more  than  a statue  of  the  divinity  to  whom  it 
was  dedicated,  and  sometimes  an  altar. 

“ The  sacred  architecture  of  the  ancient  Romans,  under  their  kings,  is 
undoubtedly  derived  from  the  Etruscans.  This  people,  a colony  from  Greece, 
were  antecedent  to  all  the  rest  of  the  Italian  peninsula  in  cultivating  the 
arts,  which  they  had  practised  even  before  the  reputed  time  of  Cadmus. 

“ The  natural  tendency  of  the  ancient  Romans  was  to  the  grand  and 
wonderful,  the  colossal,  the  showy,  and  even  the  prodigality  of  expense ; 
hence  their  amphitheatres,  their  circuses,  their  temples.  Of  all  the  antique 
temples  now  remaining  in  Rome,  the  Pantheon  is  at  once  the  most  celebrated 
and  the  most  beautiful ; and  may  be  considered  the  master-piece  of  Roman 
architecture,  whether  we  estimate  it  as  when  entire,  or,  as  at  present,  stripped 
of  all  its  statues  and  other  ornaments.  It  is  supposed  to  have  been  built  by 
8 


58 


ARC  PIITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


Marcus  Agrippa,  son-in-law  of  Octavius  Augustus,  in  his  third  consulship, 
before  the  Christian  era,  and  was  dedicated  to  Mars  and  Jupiter  the  Avenger, 
in  memory  of  the  victory  obtained  by  Augustus  over  Marc  Anthony  and 
Cleopatra  ; but  it  is  more  probable,  as  Palladio  thinks,  that  the  body  of  the 
temple  was  built  in  the  time  of  the  Republic,  and  that  Agrippa  added  the 
portico,  and  perhaps  some  other  decorations,  as  the  double  pediments  seem  to 
prove.  It  was  repaired  by  Septimius  Severus  and  Caracalla.  The  interior 
was  decorated  with  bronze  ornaments  in  the  panelling  of  the  cupola,  and 
contained,  in  niches,  statues  of  all  the  gods.  The  interior  is  no  less  fine  and 
striking  than  the  outside  ; and  from  its  circular  form  is  called  by  the  Italians 
Rotondo;  as  from  its  containing  statues  of  all  the  gods,  it  was  named  by  the 
ancients  Pantheon,  from  5r«v  andflfe?.  The  diameter,  exclusive  of  the  large 
niches  is  one  hundred  and  thirty-two  feet,  being  nearly  thirty  feet  more  than 
the  cupola  of  St.  Paul’s,  and  the  height  from  the  pavement  to  the  summit 
the  same  as  the  diameter ; the  thickness  of  the  walls  is  nineteen  feet,  which 
is  relieved  by  the  beautiful  Corinthian  niches  now  used  as  chapels  and  altars. 

“ Among  other  specimens  of  the  sacred  architecture  of  the  Romans  is  the 
temple  of  Concord,  whose  ugly  capital  has  been  before  discussed,  the  temple 
of  Janus  and  of  Romulus,  of  the  Sun  and  Moon,  of  Fortuna  Yirilis,  Yesta, 
Minerva  Medica,  Neptune,  Antoninus  and  Faustina,  Jupiter  Stator, — whose 
beautiful  entablature  is  so  well  copied  in  the  portico  of  Carlton  House, — and 
the  temple  of  Peace.  The  three  magnificent  arches  now  standing  of  this 
latter  edifice  have  been  finely  adopted  by  Sir  Christopher  Wren  in  the  choir 
of  St.  Paul’s  Cathedral. 

“ The  declension  of  style  from  the  days  of  Roman  splendour  may  be  wit- 
nessed in  the  modern  Italian  churches,  particularly  in  the  churches  of  St. 
John  the  Lateran,  and  St.  Paul  without  the  walls  the  most  of  their  build- 
ings were  executed  from  the  ruins  of  the  antique  temples  which  they  bar- 
barously despoiled  for  this  purpose ; and  when  they  had  no  longer  skill  to 
place  the  connecting  architrave,  they  substituted  ugly  and  uncharacteristic 
arches,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  fine  plates  of  it  by  Piranesi. 

“ The  fine,  original,  and  striking  style  of  sacred  architecture,  called  Gothic, 
is  of  too  much  importance  for  a portion  of  so  small  a share  of  a brief  work 
like  the  present ; but  a short  view  will  serve  better  than  a total  omission. 

“ The  earliest  British  style  is  called  Saxon  ; and  its  elements  are  heavy 
round  columns  and  semicircular  arches,  bad  resemblances  of  the  worst  Tus- 
can covered  with  the  round  arch  of  the  middle  ages. 

“ As  a proof  that  the  decline  of  the  Roman  style  produced  the  Saxon, 
which  was  called  by  the  monks  Opus  Romanum,  we  have  only  to  conceive  a 
country  mason,  ignorant  of  art,  but  skilful  with  his  chisel,  to  have  observed  a 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


59 


Composite  capital  of  the  depraved  style  of  those  of  the  temple  of  Bacchus 
on  the  Mount'Viminalis  at  Rome,  or  the  Ionic  capitals  of  the  temple  of  Con- 
cord, or  even  a respectable  Corinthian,  and  to  be  desired,  at  some  considerable 
interval  of  time,  to  carve  some  capitals  as  nearly  resembling  them  as  possible 
from  memory.  Imagine  this,  and  it  may  be  asked  whether  it  be  not  more 
than  probable  that  they  would  resemble  the  Saxon  capitals  of  St.  Bartholomew 
the  Great  in  Sinithfield,  or  those  of  the  crypt  of  Lastingham  Priory.  Hence 
we  may  fairly  conclude  that  the  origin  of  the  Saxon  style  may  be  traced  to 
the  decadence  of  the  Roman  ; and  that  the  introduction  of  the  Saracenic, 
Arabesque,  and  Grotesque  styles ; aided  by  the  practical  and  scientific  im- 
provement of  the  workmen,  and  by  the  knowledge  of  the  society  of  travel- 
ling architects,  the  early  freemasons,  produced  that  singularly  romantic  and 
beautiful  style  called  the  Gothic. 

“ ‘ A Doric  temple  differs  from  a Gothic  cathedral,  says  Mr.  Hazlitt,  1 as 
Sophocles  does  from  Shakspeare.  The  principle  of  the  one  is  simplicity 
and  harmony,  that  of  the  other  richness  and  power.  The  one  relies  on 
form  and  proportion,  the  other  on  quantity,  and  variety,  and  prominence 
of  parts.  The  one  owes  its  charm  to  a certain  union  and  regularity  of 
feeling,  the  other  adds  to  it  effects  from  complexity  and  the  combination 
of  the  greatest  extremes.  The  classical  appeals  to  sense  and  habit,  the 
Gothic  or  romantic  strikes,  from  novelty,  strangeness,  and  contrast.  Both 
are  founded  in  essential  and  indestructible  principles  of  human  nature. 

“ The  style  now  before  us  has  been  sweepingly  designated,  as  being 
any  thing  that  is  not  Grecian  ; but  whether  this  affected  antithesis  proceed 
from  humor  or  contempt  is  not  certain. 

“ Our  illustrious  countryman,  Wren,  whose  mechanical  and  mathemati- 
cal skill  elevates  him  above  all  modern  architects,  called  this  fine  style  a 
gross  concameration  of  heavy,  melancholy,  and  monkish  piles.  Now,  it  cer- 
tainly is  the  very  reverse  of  this  definition,  and  is  not  quite  so  much  opposed 
to  Grecian  art  as  was  thought  by  the  professor  before  quoted  ; but  on  the 
contrary,  is  a style  of  architecture  pure,  grand,  impressive,  and  character- 
istic. The  elements  of  it  are  spires,  pinnacles,  lofty  pointed  or  lancet-shaped 
windows,  and  elevation  as  opposed  to  the  horizontal  line  of  the  Greeks. 
Its  character  somewhat  resembles  that  of  the  old  German  school  of  painting  ; 
and  a fine  Gothic  building,  with  its  elaborate  and  carefully  marked  de- 
tails, its  gaudy  colors,  its  Vermillion,  and  its  leaf  gold,  reminds  one  of  Al- 
bert Durer  and  his  hard  but  correct  school. 

£:  England  is  the  classic  soil  for  this  style  of  architecture,  as  ancient 
Greece  is  for  that  of  the  orders ; and  here  the  student  must  come  to 
measure  and  to  study  it.  York  Minster  is  the  Parthenon  of  Gothic 


60 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


architecture,  Westminster  Abbey  the  Theseum,  and  the  Chapel  or  Mauso- 
leum of  Henry  VII.  the  choragic  monument  of  Lysicrates.  Among  the 
finest  specimens  is  the  venerable  Abbey  Church  at  St.  Alban,  in  Hert- 
fordshire, which  is  also  one  of  the  most  valuable  documents  in  the 
archaiologieal  history  of  the  country. 

££  Gothic  architecture  disdains  the  trammels  and  the  systems  of  the 
schools  ; nevertheless,  it  has  its  own  laws,  its  genera,  and  its  species,  al- 
though they  have  not  yet  been  arranged  in  a grammatical  form.  Batty 
Langley  endeavoured,  it  is  true,  to  reduce  it  to  a system,  and  to  engraft  on 
it  the  five  orders  of  the  Palladian  school,  instead  of  a more  natural  and 
philosophical  arrangement ; but  his  efforts  were  altogether  vain  and  nuga- 
tory. 

“III.  Domestic  Architecture,  perhaps  the  most  interesting  depart- 
ment of  the  art,  indigenous  to  every  country  where  human  reason  has 
in  any  degree  manifested  or  developed  itself.  Like  all  the  productions  of 
nature,  architecture  assumes  different  forms,  according  to  the  properties  of 
the  climate,  the  wants  it  may  superinduce,  the  quality  of  the  soil,  the  build- 
ing materials,  and  the  personal  character  of  the  human  beings  composing 
the  various  nations  who  practice  it. 

“ The  first  dwellings  of  the  most  ancient  inhabitants  of  the  earth  were 
doubtless  moveable  huts  or  tents,  in  the  manner  of  the  modern  Arabs  and 
Tartars.  Uninstructed  nature  first  demands  personal  clothing ; next,  a 
shelter  from  the  perturbed  elements ; then,  a store  for  housed  provisions, 
clothing,  and  other  necessaries  against  winter  and  inclement  seasons.  The 
first  demand  will  introduce  mere  drapery ; the  second,  a hut  or  cabin,  at 
first  moveable,  next  stationary,  then  secure,  and  afterwards  improved  and 
embellished  as  security  increased. 

“ Domestic  architecture  is  a portion  of  the  art  which  comes  home  to 
every  man’s  business  and  bosom.  £ Every  man’s  proper  mansion-house 
and  home,’  says  Sir  Henry  Wotton,  £ being  the  theatre  of  his  hospitality, 
the  seat  of  self-fruition,  the  comfortablest  part  of  his  own  life,  the  noblest 
of  his  son’s  inheritance,  a kind  of  private  princedom, — nay,  to  the  posses- 
sors thereof,  an  epitome  of  the  whole  world, — may  well  deserve  by  these 
attributes,  according  to  the  degree  of  the  master,  to  be  decently  and  de- 
lightfully adorned.’  It  is,  therefore,  no  mean  part  of  the  art,  although  it  has 
been  seldom  so  much  studied  and  cultivated  as  it  deserves. 

“ The  first  buildings  recorded  both  in  the  Bible  and  in  the  earliest  historians 
are  of  the  simplest  forms,  materials,  and  design,  and  only  fitted  to  keep  the 
humble-minded  inhabitants  from  the  severity  of  the  weather.  The  primeval 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY.  01 

dwelling  was  either  a natural  cavern,  or  the  simplest  contrivance  against  the 
asperity  of  the  weather. 

“ The  Egyptians  are  among  the  first  who  built  solidly  and  well ; and 
their  domestic  architecture,  as  displayed  in  the  palatial  style,  is  described  by 
ancient  writers  as  being  magnificent,  costly,  and  splendid. 

“ The  earliest  dwellings  were  originally  simple  huts  or  cabins  to  protect 
the  inhabitants  from  the  weather ; who  then  began  to  coalesce  into  cities, 
hamlets,  and  other  congregations,  for  safety  and  association.  The  wall  and 
gates  next  succeeded  ; and  security  giving  birth  to  luxury,  added  to  the 
single  living  or  sleeping-room  a second  and  a third,  as  the  wants  and  the 
refinements  of  the  inhabitants  required.  The  separation  of  the  elder  from 
the  younger,  the  males  from  the  females,  the  married  from  the  single,  and 
other  necessary  consequences  of  an  increase  of  civilization  and  refinement, 
all  added  to  the  increase  in  size  and  improved  convenience  of  the  primeval 
dwelling.  These  are  the  origins  of  the  parlour,  the  eating-room,  the  kitchen, 
the  chamber,  and  the  hall. 

“ More  solid  materials,  more  elegance,  more  convenience,  were  soon  added 
to  the  original  cabin,  as  men  advanced  in  refinement  and  civilization,  and 
became  more  convinced  of  security,  and  felt  the  desire  of  possessing  their 
own,  their  private  home. 

“ Egypt  is  undoubtedly  the  first  country  where  stone  was  used  in  domestic 
architecture,  unless,  perhaps,  Babylon  may  be  considered  its  rival,  either 
chronologically  or  in  splendour.  Egypt  abounded  more  in  stone  than  in 
timber,  and  its  inhabitants  have  proved  themselves  to  be  among  the  ablest 
workers  in  that  material  which  the  world  has  ever  produced. 

“ Of  the  early  and  private  domestic  architecture  of  the  Egyptians,  we  have 
not  many  or  sure  grounds;  but  their  immense  palaces  or  congeries  of  palaces, 
called  the  Labyrinth,  which  the  Greeks  imitated  in  their  no  less  celebrated 
Labyrinth  at  Crete,  by  Daedalus,  proves  them  to  have  advanced  in  the  pala- 
tial style  of  domestic  architecture  to  as  great  a perfection  of  splendour  as 
they  had  in  the  sacred  styles. 

“ It  has  been  doubted  whether  any  ruins  of  this  wonderful  structure  have 
ever  been  discovered ; but  Captain  Wilford,  an  enterprising  searcher  into 
antiquities,  asserts,  in  a very  able  paper  in  the  Asiatic  Researches,  that  its 
ruins  are  still  to  be  seen  near  the  Lake  Mceris,  at  a place  which  the  Arabs 
have  named  the  Kasi,  or  Palace  of  Karan,  whom  they  suppose  to  have  been 
the  richest  of  mortals.  We  must,  however,  rely  upon  the  credit  of  ancient 
authors  for  an  account  of  it ; and  the  authority  of  Herodotus  is  undoubtedly 
the  best  we  can  refer  to  on  this  head.  There  is  great  diversity  of  opinion 
upon  the  exact  period  to  which  this  much  boasted  edifice  should  be  assigned. 


62  ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 

Herodotus  (lib.  ii.,  n.  148)  attributes  its  construction  to  the  twelve  kings  who 
reigned  in  Egypt  at  the  same  time,  about  six  hundred  and  eighty  years 
before  the  Christian  era.  Pomponius  Mela  agrees  in  most  points  with  Hero- 
dotus ; and  from  these  two  authors  we  may  gather  a tolerably  clear  idea  of 
this  great  example  of  the  palatial  domestic  architecture  of  Egypt. 

“ Herodotus,  who  had  visited  and  examined  this  edifice  with  great  atten- 
tion, affirms  that  it  surpassed  every  thing  that  he  had  conceived  of  it. 
Within  one  and  the  same  circuit  of  walls,  it  contained  twelve  magnificent 
palaces,  regularly  disposed,  and  communicating  with  each  other.  Each  of 
these  palaces  contained  three  thousand  halls,  twelve  of  which  were  of  a 
particular  form  and  beauty.  Half  of  these  halls  or  chambers  were  inter- 
spersed with  terraces,  and  were  arranged  round  the  twelve  principal  halls, 
communicating  with  each  other,  but  by  so  many  turns  and  windings,  that, 
without  an  experienced  guide,  it  was  impossible  to  escape  wandering ; the 
other  half  were  underground,  cut  out  of  the  rock,  and  were  said  to  have  been 
used  for  the  sepulchre  of  their  kings  Herodotus  assures  us,  that  he  visited 
all  the  apartments  above  ground  ; but  those  which  were  subterraneous,  they 
would  not,  from  motives  of  superstition,  permit  him  to  enter.  Captain  Wil- 
ford  thinks  that  the  various  apartments  under  ground  had  been  used  for 
depositing  the  chests  or  coffins  of  the  sacred  crocodiles,  called  Sukhus  or 
Sukkis  in  old  Egyptian,  and  Soukh  to  this  day  in  the  Coptic  or  vernacular 
language  of  Egypt.  The  halls  had  an  equal  number  of  doors,  six  opening 
to  the  norih,  and  six  to  the  south  ; and  at  each  angle  of  the  external  walls 
of  this  labyrinth  was  erected  an  immense  pyramid  for  the  sepulchres  of  its 
founders.  The  whole  of  the  labyrinth,  walls,  floors,  and  ceilings,  were  of 
white  marble,  and  exhibited  a profusion  of  sculpture.  Each  of  the  before 
mentioned  twelve  halls,  or  galleries,  were  supported  on  columns  of  the  same 
sort  of  marble.  This  splendid  palace,  or  rather  city  of  palaces,  is  also  men- 
tioned by  Diodorus  Siculus,  who  thinks  it  was  a magnificent  cemetry  for 
the  Egyptian  monarchs  and  their  families  ; and  it  is  also  described  by  Strabo 
and  Pliny,  who  confirm  the  accounts  and  descriptions  of  Herodotus. 

t£  Among  other  splendid  examples  of  the  palatial  style  of  domestic  archi- 
tecture of  this  wonder-working  people,  are  the  magnificent  palace  of  Memnon, 
in  the  Thebais,  or  Upper  Egypt,  which,  according  to  Strabo,  stood  in  the 
splendid  city  of  Abydus,  the  second  in  Egypt  after  Thebes ; and  the  cele- 
brated palace  of  the  Ptolemies,  under  whom  the  national  style  of  architecture 
experienced  a complete  change,  and  aimed  at  the  superior  graces  of  the 
Greek  style. 

“ The  vast  and  splendid  city  of  Thebes  is  celebrated  by  ancient  writers 
for  the  beauty  and  splendour  of  its  domestic  architecture,  as  well  as  for  its 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


G3 


great  perfection  in  sacred,  monumental,  and  defensive  architecture.  This 
style,  domestic  art,  must  have  arrived  to  a high  degree  of  perfection  among 
the  Thebans  ; for  Diodorus  says,  that  the  houses  of  the  private  citizens  in 
Thebes  were  of  four  and  five  stories  in  height ; which  proves  their  know- 
ledge of  floors,  stairs,  and  the  other  necessary  mechanism  of  storied  buildings. 
Of  an  antiquity  nearly  as  remote  as  these  splendid  examples  of  the  Egyptian 
kings  is  the  celebrated  palace  of  Solomon,  who  proposed  to  construct  the 
most  magnificent  temple  and  the  most  splendid  palace  that  had  yet  been  seen. 
Although  a very  able  contemporary,  (Mr.  Wilkins)  has  endeavoured  to  con- 
vert the  temple  of  Solomon  to  a Grecian  temple  of  the  pure  Doric  order, 
there  can  be  no  question  that  the  style  of  architecture,  both  of  the  temple 
and  of  the  palace  of  Solomon,  was  strictly  Egyptian  in  every  particular  but 
in  its  materials.  The  ancient  historian  who  records  the  chronicles  of  the 
Jewish  kings  assures  us,  that  Phoenicia  produced  the  most  skilful  artizans 
in  wood,  or  as  our  translation  renders  it,  hewers  of  wood  ; and  were  probably 
skilful  carpenters,  joiners,  carvers,  and  such  like.  A supply  of  these  able 
workmen  and  materials  of  all  descriptions  were  sent  from  Tyre  to  Jerusalem 
to  build  this  palace,  which  was  also  designed  by  Phoenician  or  Tyrian  archi- 
tects. In  corroboration  of  the  opinion  that  the  style  of  the  architecture  of  this 
palace  was  the  same  as  the  Egyptian,  it  should  be  remembered  that  Solomon 
married  the  king  of  Egypt’s  daughter,  and  built  it  for  her  accommodation, 
and  in  her  honour.  The  artists  of  Phoenicia  were  then  the  most  skilful  of 
their  day  ; and  much  of  the  work  was  executed  in  their  oavii  country,  and 
sent  over  to  Judea  for  constructing  these  edifices.  The  palace  was  thirteen 
years  (1  Kings,  vii.)  in  building,  and  is  described  to  have  been  built  of  hewn 
stones,  of  beams,  and  of  columns  of  cedar  wood,  with  spacious  windows, 
porticoes,  and  porches.  In  one  of  which  he  constructed  a lofty  throne, 
whereon  he  sat  to  administer  justice  to  the  people.  The  description  of  this 
magnificent  palace,  and  of  the  columns  of  wrought  and  cast  brass,  executed 
by  Hiram,  the  architect,  in  the  first  book  of  Kings,  is  woith  referring  to,  in 
corroboration  of  the  perfection  to  which  domestic  architecture,  and,  in  fact, 
all  the  other  arts,  had  reached  in  this  period  of  ancient  history. 

“In  these  early  ages,  as  well  as  those  so  beautifully  described  in  Homer, 
the  patriarchal  form  of  government  was  so  prevalent,  that  the  palaces  of 
princes  were  used  for  every  ordinary  public  use,  and  they  seem  to  have  been 
the  only  buildings  dedicated  to  public  purposes.  The  royal  palace  of  Troy 
is  described  by  Homer  as  very  spacious;  the  material,  stone,  artfully  wrought; 
the  apartments  numerous.  But  we  have  no  accounts  of  the  detail. 

“The  walls  of  Troy  are  celebrated  as  having  been  the  works  of  gods; 
which  fable  proves  nothing  but  that  neither  the  Greeks  nor  the  Trojans  of 


G4 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


those  days  excelled  in  such  works,  which  had  been  raised,  like  the  temple 
and  palace  of  Solomon,  by  foreign  artists.  The  Israelites  before  Solomon, 
and  the  Greeks  in  Homer’s  time,  seem  to  have  made  about  equal  progress 
in  domestic  architecture. 

“ Among  various  ancient  specimens  of  domestic  architecture  of  Eastern 
nations,  is  the  ruins  of  the  beautiful  stone  building  at  Delhi,  called  the  Shi- 
kargah,  or  hunting  palace,  of  Feeroz  Shah.  The  lofty  pillar  of  a single 
stone  upon  its  summit,  is  called  the  lat,  or  walking  staff,  of  the  same  mon- 
arch. From  a translation  made  by  Colonel  Follien  of  ils  inscriptions,  it  would 
appear  as  old  as  the  year  97  of  the  Christian  era but  from  another  version, 
made  by  Mr.  Henry  Colebrooke, — who  is  celebrated  as  a Sanscrit  scholar  for 
his  translation  of  the  digest  of  the  Hindu  law,  compiled  under  the  superin- 
tendence of  Sir  William  Jones, — it  is  made  much  later  (1164.)  One  date 
may.  however,  refer  to  the  pillar,  and  the  other  to  the  building. 

“ The  Feeroz  Shah,  whose  name  is  attached  to  the  building,  which  is  ac- 
knowledged to  be  a very  ancient  Hindu  monument,  appears  from  Ferishtuh’s 
history  to  have  reigned  at  Delhi  between  the  years  13.51  and  13S8,  in  the 
last  of  which  he  died,  at  the  age  of  ninety  ; and  this  historian,  according  to 
his  translator  Colonel  Dow,  gives  him  the  following  character : that  ‘ though 
no  great  warrior  in  the  field,  he  was  by  his  excellent  qualities  well  calculated 
for  a reign  of  peace.’  He  reigned  thirty-eight  years  and  nine  months,  and 
left  many  memorials  of  his  magnificence  in  the  land.  He  built  fifty  great 
sluices,  forty  mosques,  thirty  schools,  twenty  caravanseras,  a hundred  palaces, 
five  hospitals,  a hundred  tombs,  ten  baths,  ten  spires,  one  hundred  and  fifty 
wells  or  public  fountains,  a hundred  bridges,  and  the  pleasure  gardens  he 
made  were  without  number. 

“ Mohammed  Ameen  Rasee,  a native  historian,  who  wrote  a history  of 
the  world  in  the  reign  of  Akbar,  affirms  that  this  palace  was  a hunting-place 
of  Feeroz  Shah.  It  is  a building  of  three  stories,  in  the  centre  of  which  is  a 
column  of  red  stone  of  a single  piece,  round  which  are  engraved  several 
inscriptions  of  a character  which  has  hitherto  remained  undeciphered.  The 
historian  says  only  one-third  of  this  column  is  visible,  and  that  the  remaining 
two-thirds  are  concealed  by  the  ruins.  Its  length,  or  rather  height,  above 
the  roof  is  thirty-seven  feet,  and  its  circumference,  as  measured  by  Captain 
Hoare’s  moonshee,  Mohammed  Morad,  ten  feet  four  inches ; some  authors 
say  that  the  column  is  a monument  of  renown  to  the  rajahs  or  princes  of 
Hindustan,  and  that  Feeroz  Shah  erected  the  building  on  which  it  stands 
for  a menagerie  and  aviary,  as  an  atonement  for  the  severities  which  he 
practised  on  the  inhabitants  of  Cumassa.  It  is  a beautiful  remain  of  an- 
cient Hindu  domestic  architecture,  and  is  agreeably  varied  in  its  several  stories 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


65 


for  effect  of  light  and  shade.  When  perfect,  with  its  verandas  and  porticoes, 
it  must  have  presented  a very  graceful  and  elegant  appearance.  Other 
specimens  of  the  domestic  architecture  of  this  people  are  the  palace  of 
Gazipoor,  Oude,  &c.,  &c. 

“ The  Phoenician  artists  who  executed  the  palace  and  temple  of  Solomon 
are  generally  supposed  to  be  those  descendants  of  Noah  who  settled  on  the 
coast  of  Palestine,  and  are  the  same  people  who  are  spoken  of  in  the  Old 
Testament  as  Canaanites,  a word  signifying  merchants,  and  were  after- 
wards called  by  the  Greeks  Phoenician.  Sidon,  their  capital,  so  often  spoken 
of  by  Homer,  which  was  afterwards  eclipsed  by  its  own  colony  Tyre,  was 
founded  by  Sidon  the  eldest  son  of  Canaan.  Inhabiting  a barren  coun- 
try, they  applied  themselves  to  commerce  and  the  arts,  and  were  distin- 
guished for  their  excellence  in  manufactures  and  works  of  taste.  Their 
first  settlements  were  in  the  isles  of  Cyprus  and  Rhodes,  and  they  passed 
successively  into  Greece,  Sicily,  and  Sardinia,  afterwards  into  Gaul ; and, 
always  advancing,  discovered  the  southern  and  western  coasts  of  Spain, 
and  lastly  Britain.  It  is  even  thought  that  the  isles  of  Cassiterides, 
whence  they  obtained  their  tin,  were  the  Solingues  and  part  of  Cornwall. 
Of  their  beautiful  city  Tyre  the  twenty-seventh  and  twenty-eighth  chap- 
ters of  Ezekiel  give  a grand  and  poetical  description  ; describing  it  as  of  per- 
fect beauty,  situate  in  the  midst  of  the  sea.  Its  public  and  private  build- 
ings and  fortifications  were  of  great  extent : ‘ the  men  of  Arvad  with 
thine  army,’  says  the  writer,  c were  upon  thy  walls,  and  the  Gammadims 
were  in  thy  towers ; they  hanged  their  shields  upon  thy  walls  round  about.’ 
The  whole  of  the  two  chapters  are  worthy  of  reference  for  their  striking 
descriptions. 

“ The  Phoenicians  built  several  cities  distinguished  for  the  magnificence 
of  their  domestic  architecture,  their  wealth,  manufactures,  and  extended 
commerce.  Among  the  principal  were  Joppa,  Damascus,  and  Baalbec. 
Herodotus  mentions  among  other  celebrated  Phoenician  structures  a splen- 
did temple  dedicated  to  Hercules,  at  Tyre  ; and  Hiram,  king  of  Tyre, 
the  friend  and  ally  of  Solomon  and  the  patron  of  Hiram  the  great  archi- 
tect, is  mentioned  as  the  founder  of  many  palaces  and  cities. 

“ It  is  probable  that  the  style  of  Phoenician  architecture  differed  from 
that  of  other  contemporary  nations,  as  Strabo,  in  speaking  of  Tyrus  and 
Aradus,  two  islands  in  the  Persian  Gulf,  says  they  had  temples  and  other 
structures  resembling  those  of  the  Phoenicians. 

“ It  has  been  conjectured,  and  with  much  probability,  that  the  Phoenician 
* architects  constructed  the  principal  part  of  their  edifices  with  timber,  as 
Mount  Lebanus  supplied  them  with  great  quantities,  and  its  cedar  is  much 
9 


66 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


celebrated ; and,  from  what  we  can  learn  of  the  construction  of  the  pa- 
laces, and  other  buildings  of  Solomon  by  Phoenician  architects  and  work- 
men, much  timber  was  used  in  its  erection. 

“ Of  the  domestic  architecture  of  the  Chinese  both  ancient  and  modern, 
for  they  scarcely  differ,  little  need  be  said.  Tents  and  pavilions  were  the 
original  types  of  its  style,  and  appear  to  have  served  as  models  of  design 
to  this  extraordinary  people.  From  this  origin  arises  its  essential  charac- 
ter, lightness  ; and  its  essential  defects,  weakness  and  bad  taste.  The  ma- 
terials principally  used  by  the  Chinese,  are  wood  of  different  sorts,  bricks 
and  tiles  burned  in  the  sun.  Marble  and  stone  are  not  often  used,  which 
may  perhaps  be  attributed  to  their  climate.  The  heat  and  humidity  of 
the  southren  provinces  render  it  extremely  unhealthy  to  reside  in  houses 
built  of  stone ; and,  according  to  the  missionaries  who  were  at  Pekin, 
they  would,  in  the  northern  provinces,  be  uninhabitable  for  more  than 
half  the  year.  The  general  style  of  Chinese  architecture  cannot  but  be 
familiar  to  any  one  who  has  ever  drunk  from  a China  tea-cup,  or  who 
has  seen  many  of  the  signs  of  our  grocers’  shops,  Sir  William  Chamber’s 
pagoda  in  Kew  Gardens,  or  the  Pavilion  at  Brighton. 

“ The  Chinese  are  governed  more  by  the  laws  of  their  police  than  by 
either  theory  or  good  taste  in  their  domestic  architecture.  These  laws 
prescribe  with  the  greatest  accuracy  how  the  lou,  or  palace,  should  be 
built  of  a prince  of  the  first,  second,  or  third  order  of  the  imperial  family, 
of  a grandee  of  the  empire,  or  of  a mandarine  ; and  they  regulate,  like 
our  building  act  of  parliament,  the  public  edifices  of  the  capital,  and  of 
provincial  edifices,  cities,  and  towns,  according  to  their  several  ranks  or 
grades  in  the  empire.  According  to  these  laws,  which  are  said  to  be 
very  ancient,  the  number  of  courts,  the  dimensions  of  the  terraces,  the 
length  of  the  buildings,  and  the  height  of  the  roofs,  are  ordered,  by  pro- 
gressive degrees  of  increase,  from  the  simple  citizen  to  the  man  of  letters, 
from  the  man  of  letters  to  the  mandarine,  from  the  mandarine  to  the 
prince,  and  from  the  prince  to  the  emperor  himself. 

“ All  these  measurements  are  fixed  to  within  a few  inches,  and  these 
laws  have  of  course  produced  a uniformity  in  the  houses  of  individuals; 
and,  after  the  gradation  prescribed  among  all  buildings,  it  is  not  astonish- 
ing that  the  common  houses  are  but  merely  huts  of  a single  floor  ; but 
the  climate  may  also  prevent  them  from  building  many  stories.  Their 
plan  is  also  as  uniform  as  their  elevation  ; more  than  half  the  ground- 
floor  is  occupied  by  courts  and  passages.  The  fronts  of  Chinese  dwelling- 
houses  next  the  street  have  no  windows,  except  when  the  building  is* 
used  for  a shop.  There  is  but  one  opening,  namely,  the  door,  before 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


67 


which  they  hang  a mat  or  place  a screen,  to  prevent  the  passers-by  from 
looking  in.  The  form  of  the  Chinese  roof  is  characteristic  of  their  style, 
always  producing  the  idea  of  the  tent,  or  pavilion  as  the  primeval  type  of 
their  architecture. 

“ In  the  domestic  architecture  of  the  Chinese  are  often  found  doors  of  a 
circular  form  at  the  top,  approaching  somewhat  to  the  idea  of  the  arch, 
but  resembling  more  the  door  of  a bird  cage  than  that  of  the  entrance  of 
a dwelling-house.  The  palaces  of  China,  especially  those  of  the  emperor, 
are  distinguished  by  their  vast  extent,  by  the  number  of  large  courts, 
turnings,  galleries,  porticoes,  halls,  &c.,  of  which  they  are  composed. 

“ Some  of  their  public  buildings  are  of  a more  substantial  and  durable 
nature  than  their  domestic  architecture  ; but  there  is  nothing  in  their  style — 
even  after  attentively  perusing  the  best  European  Chinese  critic  and  archi- 
tect, Sir  William  Chambers,  and  inspecting  the  best  designs  both  executed 
and  on  paper — to  commend  either  on  the  score  of  propriety,  beauty,  or  good 
taste. 

“ The  domestic  architecture  of  the  Greeks  cannot  be  accurately  ascertain- 
ed ; but  that  of  the  Romans  can  be  well  gathered  from  some  of  their  ruins, 
and  the  relations  of  their  authors.  The  palaces  and  dwelling-houses  of  the 
ancient  Romans  were  in  a profuse  style  of  grandeur  and  superb  decoration. 
Their  villas,  baths,  and  town-houses  were  of  vast  extent,  and  embraced 
every  luxury  that  domestic  architecture  could  demand,  aided  by  painting, 
sculpture,  and  all  the  arts  of  design  and  decoration. 

“ Among  their  most  splendid  and  costly  examples  of  domestic  architecture 
were  their  baths,  their  theatres,  and  their  amphitheatres.  In  the  latter  de- 
scription of  building  they  aimed  so  much  at  prodigality  that  the  relations  of 
their  most  authentic  writers  almost  appear  fabulous  ; as  the  account  of  the 
temporary  theatre  of  Marcus  Scaurus,  erected  while  he  was  edile,  which  he 
embellished  with  three  hundred  and  sixty  marble  columns  and  three  thou- 
sand bronze  statues.  It  was  capable  of  holding  eighty  thousand  persons. 
The  shafts  of  the  lower  range  of  columns  were  thirty-eight  feet  long,  and 
their  weight  so  great  that  Scaurus  was  obliged  to  give  security  for  the  repara- 
tion of  the  great  sewers  over  which  they  were  to  pass,  if  they  should  be 
damaged  by  their  conveyance ; and  this,  we  should  remember,  was  only  for 
an  occasional  temporary  amusement. 

“ Such  also  in  character  was  the  timber  edifice  erected  by  Curio  for  the 
celebration  of  the  funeral  games  in  honor  of  his  father ; which  was  so  con- 
trived as  to  form,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  exhibition,  either  a theatre  or 
an  amphitheatre.  When  to  be  used  in  the  former  manner,  the  circular  backs 
were  placed  against  each  other,  thus  becoming  two  separate  theatres ; so 


68 


ARCHITECTURAL  HISTORY. 


that  the  declamations,  music,  and  applauding  acclamations  of  the  one  were 
not  heard  in  the  other.  After  the  theatrical  performances  were  concluded, 
the  two  edifices,  turning  on  pivots,  were  rolled  round  by  machinery,  with  all 
the  audience  within  them,  and  the  circle  or  amphitheatre  was  completed : 
the  pit,  cleared  of  the  populace,  forming  the  arena. 

4 The  splendour  of  the  baths  of  the  Romans  was  equal  to  their  other 
structures.  Ammianus  Marcellinus  describes  them  of  immense  size.  Some 
idea  of  their  splendour  may  be  gathered  from  the  ruins  of  the  baths  of  Titus, 
and  from  the  Pantheon  ; which  Cameron,  in  his  dissertation  on  the  baths  of 
the  ancients,  says  was  only  a vestibule  to  the  vast  and  magnificent  baths  of 
Agrippa,  who  is  the  reputed  founder  of  its  fine  portico. 

4 Before  the  introduction  of  pure  taste  and  the  importation  of  Grecian  arts 
and  artists  into  Rome,  we  have  the  authority  of  all  historians  to  prove  that 
its  architecture  was  as  rude  as  that  of  any  people  of  antiquity.  Their  Etrus- 
can neighbours  led  them  to  copy  Greek  originals;  and  one  of  their  earliest 
kings,  Tarquinius  Prisons,  was  a native  of  Greece : hence  the  origin  of  the 
Roman  style.  Nor  was  it  the  architecture  of  Greece  alone  that  the  Romans 
imitated ; but  also  their  literature,  their  eloquence,  their  manners  and  cus- 
toms, were  all  borrowed  from  their  illustrious  predecessors.  Vitruvius  found- 
ed his  code  of  architectural  laws  upon  those  of  the  Greeks  ; Virgil  imitated 
Homer ; Cicero,  Demosthenes ; the  early  Roman  plays  were  translations 
from  the  Greek,  and  their  later  ones  imitations. 

4 The  elements,  or  constituent  parts  of  Roman  architecture,  like  those  of 
the  Grecian,  are  the  orders ; which  consist  in  the  style  now  before  us  of  five, 
as  the  Grecian  does  of  three ; and  are  named  the  Tuscan,  the  Doric , the 
fonic,  the  Corinthian,  and  the  Composite.'1'1 


GLOSSARY 


OP 


NAMES  AND  TERMS  USED  IN  ARCHITECTURE.* 


[FROM  THE  ENCYCLOPEDIA  BIUTANNICA SEVENTH  EDITION.] 


Abaciscus  (diminutive  of  Abacus,  q.  in). 
This  term  is  applied  to  the  chequers  or 
squares  of  a tessellated  pavement. 

Abacus  (Gr.  a/2a|,  a square  tile  or  table).  The 
rectangular  and  equilateral  tablet  covering 
the  ovalo  of  the  capital  of  the  Doric  column, 
and  on  which  the  superimposed  entablature 
rests,  is  called  the  abacus ; and  from  it 
the  similar  part  (though  differently  shaped) 
of  all  capitals  is  distinguished  by  the  same 
term.  Abacus  means  tbe  same  thing,  but 
is  opposed  in  application  to  Plintii. 

Acroterium  (Gr.  angarngtou,  the  summit  or 
vertex),  a statue  or  ornament  of  any  kind 
placed  on  the  apex  of  a pediment.  The 
term  is  often  incorrectly  restricted  to  the 
plinth,  which  forms  the  podium  merely 
for  the  acroterium.  The  statue  of  the  saint 
on  the  apex  of  the  pediment  of  the  west- 
ern front  of  St.  Paul’s  is  an  acroterium ; 
the  other  statues  may  be  called  acroteral 
figures. 

Amphiprosttle  (Gr.  *u<pi,  around  or  about, 
and  prostyle,  q.  v.)  A temple  with  a porti- 
co at  each  end  is  said  to  be  an  amphi- 
prostyle.  This  term  would  be  more  correctly 
applied  to  a structure  having  projecting 
porticoes  on  all  its  sides,  especially  if  it  be 
equilateral  like  the  Bourse  or  Exchange  at 
Paris,  allowing  no  distinction  of  flanks  or 
wings  to  make  it  peripteral. 

Annulet  (Lat.  annulus,  a ring).  This  term 
is  applied  to  the  small  fillets  or  bands 


which  encircle  the  lower  part  of  the  Doric 
capital  immediately  above  the  neck  or  tra- 
chelium. 

Ant.®  (probably  from  the  Gr.  uvtio;,  or  some 
other  compound  of  the  preposition  «vt/,  for, 
or  opposite  to;  it  has  no  singular),  the  pier- 
formed  ends  of  the  walls  of  a building,  as 
in  the  portico  of  a Greek  temple.  A por- 
tico is  said  to  be  in  antis  when  columns 
stand  between  antce,  as  in  the  temple  of 
Theseus,  supposing  the  peristyle  or  sur- 
rounding columns  removed. 

Antefix.®  (Lat.  ante,  before,  and  fxus,  fixed), 
upright  blocks  with  an  ornamented  face 
placed  at  regular  intervals  on  a cornice. 
Antefixffi  were  originally  adapted  to  close 
and  hide  the  lower  ends  of  the  joints  of  the 
covering  tiles  on  the  roof  of  a temple. 

Apopiiyge  (Gr.  ctmquyi i,  a flying  off),  the  low- 
er part  of  the  shaft  of  an  Ionic  or  Corinthian 
column,  or  the  highest  member  of  its  base  if 
the  column  be  considered  as  a whole.  The 
apophyge  is  the  inverted  cavetto  or  concave 
sweep,  on  the  upper  edge  of  which  the  cylin- 
drical shaft  rests. 

Apteral  (Gr.  a priv.  and  rrregov,  a wing),  a 
temple  without  columns  on  the  flanks  or 
sides. 

Ar^ostyle  (Gr.  ugaio;,  rare  or  weak,  and 
o-TvAoc,  a column),  a wide  intercolumniation. 
The  space  assigned  to  this  term  is  four  dia- 
meters. 

Ar^eosystyle  (compounded  of  araostyle  and 


Those  marked  thup  t are  either  entirely,  or  almost  entirely,  peculiar  to  Pointed  Architecture. 


70 


ARCHITECTURAL  TERMS. 


sy style,  q.  v.).  This  term  is  used  to  express 
the  arrangement  attendant  on  coupled  co- 
lums,  as  in  the  western  front  of  St.  Paul’s 
Cathedral. 

Arcade,  a series  of  arches. 

Arch  (Lat.  arcus,  a bow),  a construction  of 
separate  or  distinct  blocks  or  masses  of  any 
hard  material,  cut  wedge-wise,  and  arranged 
in  a bowed  form,  so  as  to  bear  from  end  to 
end  horizontally,  or  across  an  opening, 
though  abutting  or  being  supported  only  at 
the  ends. 

Architrave  (Gr.  chief,  and  Lat.  trabs,  a 
beam),  the  chief  beam, — that  part  of  the 
entablature  which  rests  immediately  on  the 
heads  of  the  columns,  and  is  surmounted  by 
the  frieze ; it  is  also  called  the  epist.ylium  or 
epistyle.  The  moulded  enrichment  on  the 
sides  and  head  of  a door  or  window  is  called 
an  architrave. 

Arciiivolt.  This  term  is  a contraction  of  the 
Italian  architrave  voltato.  It  is  applied  to 
the  architrave  moulding  on  the  face  of  an 
arch,  and  following  its  contour. 

Arris,  the  sharp  edge  or  angle  in  which  two 
sides  or  surfaces  meet. 

Astragal  (Gr.  sott a vertebral  joint),  a 
convex  moulding.  This  term  is  generally 
applied  to  small  mouldings,  and  (torus  to 
large  ones  of  the  same  form.  (See  torus.) 

Attic,  a low  story  above  an  entablature,  or 
above  a cornice  which  limits  the  height  of 
the  main  part  of  an  elevation.  The  etymo- 
logy of  this  term  is  unsettled  : probably  the 
upper  range  of  columns  in  a Greek  hypas- 
thral  temple  was  called  aa-ii^ov,  from  hav- 
ing no  coherent  wall ; whence  the  Latin 
atticum,  audits  application  to  a story  super- 
imposing the  general  ordinance.  Other- 
wise such  a thing  is  unknown  in  Greek 
architecture  ; but  it  is  very  common  in  both 
Roman  and  Italian  practice.  What  is  here 
termed  the  tholobate  in  St.  Peter’s  and  St. 
Paul’s  cathedrals  are  generally  termed 
attics. 

Baluster,  a small  column  or  pier  supporting 
the  coping  in  a pierced  parapet : the  para- 
pet itself,  when  pierced,  is  hence  called  a 
balustrade. 

Band  or  T.enia,  nearly  synonymous  with  Fil- 
let, q.  v.  This  term  is,  however,  most  ge- 
nerally applied  to  that  listel  in  the  Doric 
entablature  which  separates  the  frieze  from 
the  architrave,  and  connects  the  lower  parts 
of  the  triglyphs. 


Base  (Gr.  fian;,  from  the  verb  to  bear).  The 
congeries  of  mouldings  generally  placed 
under  the  shaft  of  an  Ionic  or  Corinthian 
column  is  called  its  base.  The  term  is  ap- 
plied also  to  the  lowest  part  of  a pedestal 
or  stylobate ; to  the  vertical  moulded  fit- 
tings which  go  round  walls  on  the  floor  ; 
and  generally  to  every  thing  that  is  put 
lowest,  for  any  thing  to  rest  on, 

Batter  (Fr.  battre,  to  beat).  Building  over 
in  projecting  courses,  like  inverted  steps, 
is  termed  battering,  beating,  or  corbelling 
over. 

t Battlement,  a pierced  or  machicolated 
parapet. 

t Bay.  The  space  between  the  mullions  of  a 
window,  between  piers,  and  between  the 
principal  beams  of  a roof,  floor,  or  ceiling, 
is  a bay. 

Bead,  a small  cylindrical  moulding  of  fre- 
quent use. 

Bed-mould,  the  congeries  of  mouldings  which 
is  under  the  projecting  part  of  almost  every 
cornice,  and  of  which  indeed  it  is  a part. 

Blocking-course,  a deep  but  slightly  project- 
ing course  in  an  elevation,  to  act  as  cornice 
to  an  arcade,  or  to  separate  a basement 
from  a superior  story.  (See  String-course.) 

+ Boss,  a sculptured  knob  which  is  placed  on 
the  intersections  of  ribs  in  groined  ceilings. 

t Buttress,  the  projected  piers  against  the 
angles  of  towers,  and  against  the  ordinary 
piers  of  walls,  to  strengthen  them,  and  re- 
ceive the  outward  thrust  of  the  inner  trans- 
verse arches. 

Cabling.  The  flutes  of  columns  are  said  to 
be  cabled  v hen  they  are  partly  occupied  by 
solid  convex  masses,  or  appear  to  be  refilled 
with  cylinders  after  they  had  been  formed. 

t Canopy,  a covering  or  hood,  the  enriched 
projecting  head  to  a niche  or  tabernacle. 
The  tablet  cr  drip-stone,  whether  straight  or 
circular,  over  the  heads  of  doors  or  windows, 
if  enriched,  is  called  a canopy. 

Capital,  Cap  (Gr.  xs<f>«A»,  the  head),  the  spread- 
ing, moulded,  voluted,  foliate,  or  otherwise 
enriched  head  of  a column.  The  term  cap 
is  applied,  in  contradistinction,  to  the  con- 
geries of  mouldings  which  forms  the  head 
of  a pier  or  pilaster. 

Caryatides.  Human  female  figures  used 
as  pier3,  columns,  or  supports,  are  called 
Caryatides ; and,  adjectively,  Caryatic  is 
applied  to  the  human  figure  generally,  when 
used  in  the  manner  of  Caryatides. 


ARCHITECTURAL  TERMS. 


71 


Cassoon,  (Ital.),  a deep  panel  or  coffer  in  a 
soffit  or  ceiling,  this  term  is  often  written 
afler  the  French  caisson,  whereas  we  derive 
it  directly  from  the  Italian  cassone,  the  aug- 
mentative of  cassa,  a chest  or  coffer. 
Cathetus  (Gr.  xiSmc,  a perpendicular  line). 
The  eye  of  the  volute  is  so  termed  because 
its  position  is  determined,  in  an  Ionic  or 
voluted  capital,  by  a line  let  down  from  the 
point  in  which  the  volute  generates. 
Cauliculus  (Lat.  a stalk  or  stem),  the  inner 
scrolls  or  tendrils  of  the  Corinthian  capital 
are  called  Cauliculi.  It  is  not  uncommon, 
however,  to  apply  this  term  to  the  larger 
scrolls  or  volutes  of  the  same  also. 

Cavetto  (Ital.  cavare,  to  dig  out),  a moulding 
whose  form  is  a simple  concave,  and  im- 
pending. 

Cella  (Lat.),  the  cell  or  interior  of  a Cleithral 
temple.  The  Greek  term  is  Naos. 

Chamfer.  An  edge  or  arris  taken  off  equally 
on  the  two  sides  which  form  it,  leaves  what 
is  called  a chamfer,  or  a chamfered  edge.  If 
the  arris  be  taken  off  more  on  the  one  side 
than  the  other,  it  is  said  to  be  splayed  or 
bevelled. 

+ Cinquefoil,  tracery  in  five  foliations  or 
featherings. 

Cleithral  (vide  Cleithros.)  This  is  used  of 
a covered  Greek  temple,  in  contradistinction 
to  Hypcethral,  which  designates  one  that  is 
uncovered. 

Cleithros  (Gr.  ungo(,  an  inclosed  or  shut  up 
place).  A temple  whose  roof  completely 
covers  it  is  a Cleithros. 

Coffer,  a deep  panel  in  a ceiling. 

Column  (Lat.  columna :),  a tapering  cylindrical 
mass,  placed  vertically  on  a level  stylobate, 
in  some  cases  with  a spreading  congeries  of 
mouldings  called  a base,  and  having  always 
at  its  upper  and  smaller  end  a dilating  mass 
called  a capital.  Columns  are  either  insu- 
lated or  attached.  They  are  said  to  be 
attached  or  engaged  when  they  form  part  of 
a wall,  projecting  one  half  or  more,  but  not 
the  whole  of  their  substance. 

Consol  or  Console,  a bracket  or  truss,  gene- 
rally with  scrolls,  or  volutes,  at  the  two  ends, 
of  unequal  size  and  contrasted,  but  connected 
by  a flovVing  line  from  the  back  of  the  upper 
one  to  the  inner  convolving  face  of  the 
lower. 

Coping,  the  covering  course  or  cornice  of  a 
wall  or  parapet.  The  term  coping  is  gene- 
rally applied  to  a plain,  slightly  projected, 
covering  course,  and  cornice  to  a larger 
moulded  coping 


t Corbel,  a knob,  boss,  or  consol,  projecting 
from  a vertical  face,  to  act  as  a prop  or  sup- 
port. Its  jutting  or  overhanging  has  in- 
duced the  application  of  the  term  to  describe 
the  projection  of  one  thing  over  another. 

Cornice  (Gr.  jt-igw/r,  the  highest  part,  that 
which  is  placed  last  on  a building),  the  high, 
est  part  of  an  entablature — that  which  rests 
on  the  frieze.  The  term  cornice  is  very  ge- 
nerally applied  to  any  bold  congeries  of 
moulding  occupying  the  highest  place  in  a 
composition,  whether  external  or  internal. 
A plain  covering  to  a wall  or  parapet  is 
called  a coping  q.  v. 

Corona  (vide  Cornice).  This  term  is  applied 
to  the  deep  verticle  face  of  the  projected  part 
of  the  cornice  between  the  bed-mould  and  the 
covering  mouldings. 

t Crocket  (probably  from  the  old  English 
word  crok,  a curl),  an  ornament  of  foliage 
or  animals  running  up  the  back  of  a pedi- 
ment, arch,  pinnacle,  or  spire,  from  the  cor- 
bels below  to  the  finial  above,  in  which 
latter  the  crockets  on  both  sides  appear  to 
merge.  In  the  earlier  examples  the  crocket 
is  a mere  curl,  or  bent  tendril,  with  an  en- 
riched end. 

Cupola  (Ital.  cupo,  concave,  profound),  a 
spherical  or  spheroidal  covering  to  a build- 
ing, or  to  any  part  of  it. 
t Cusp  (Lat.  cuspis,  a spear),  the  points  in 
which  the  foliations  of  tracery  finish.  These 
arc  sometimes  themselves  enriched,  and  are 
sometimes  plain. 

Cyclostylar  (Gr.  kokkoc,  a circle,  and,  o-rutoc, 
a column).  A structure  composed  of  a 
circular  range  of  columns  without  a core 
is  cyclostylar  ; for  with  a core,  the  range 
would  be  a peristyle.  This  is  the  species  of 
edifice  falsely  called  by  Vitruvius  Monopte- 
ral.  (See  Monopteros.) 

Cyma  (Gr.  x.vfj.dL  a wave),  the  name  of  a mould- 
ing of  very  frequent  use.  It  is  a simple, 
waved  line,  concave  at  one  end  and  convex 
at  the  other,  like  an  Italic/.  In  that  man- 
ner it  is  called  a cyma-recta ; but  if  the  con- 
vexity appear  above,  and  the  concavity  below 
on  the  right  hand,  it  is  then  a cyma-re- 
versa. 

Cyrtostyle  (Gr.  xt/gTo?,  convex,  and  erruhoc, 
a column),  a circular  projecting  portico. 

Dado  or  Die,  the  vertical  face  of  an  insulated 
pedestal,  between  the  base  and  cornice  or 
surbase.  It  is  extended  also  to  the  similar 
part  of  all  st.ereobates  which  are  arranged  like 
pedestals  in  Roman  and  Italian  architecture. 


72 


ARCHITECTURAL  TERMS. 


Decastyle  (Gr.  finz,  ten,  and  s-n-uxo;,  a col- 
umn), a portico  of  ten  columns  in  front.  (See 
note  to  the  term  Hexastyle.)  The  portico 
to  the  London  University  is  of  this  descrip- 
tion ; more  particularly  described,  it  is  deca- 
prostyle  and  recessed. 

Dentil  (Lat.  dens,  a tooth).  The  cogged  or 
toothed  member,  so  common  in  the  bed- 
mould  of  a Corinthian  entablature,  is  said 
to  be  Dentilled  ; and  each  cog  or  tooth  is 
called  a dentil. 

Design.  Architects  apply  this  term  to  what  is 
vulgarly  called  a plan,  intending  by  it  the 
scheme  or  design  of  a building  in  all  its 
parts,  the  term  plan  having  a distinct  appli- 
cation to  a technical  portion  of  the  design. 
(See  Plan.)  The  plans,  elevations,  sec- 
tions, and  whatever  other  drawings  may  be 
necessary  for  an  edifice,  exhibit  the  design. 

Detail.  As  used  by  architects,  detail  means 
the  smaller  parts  into  which  a composition 
may  be  divided.  It  is  applied  generally  to 
mouldings  and  other  enrichments,  and  again 
to  their  minutiae. 

Diameter  (superior  and  inferior).  The  greater 
diameter  of  the  shaft  of  a column  is  tech- 
nically termed  its  inferior,  because  it  is  that 
of  the  lower  end  ; and  the  lesser,  that  of  the 
upper  end,  its  superior  diameter. 

Diastyle  (Gr.  fix,  through,  and  o-tum;,  a co- 
lumn), a spacious  intercolumniation,  to 
which  three  diameters  are  assigned.  ( Vide 
Eustyle.) 

Dipteral.  (See  Dipteros.) 

Dipteros  (Gr.  Si;,  twice  and  tr-regor,  a wing), 
a double  winged  temple.  The  Greeks  are  said 
to  have  constructed  temples  with  two  ranges 
of  columns  all  round,  which  were  called 
Dipteroi.  A portico  projecting  two  co- 
lumns and  their  interspaces  is  of  dipteral  or 
pseudo-dipteral  arrangement. 

Distyle  (Gr.  Si;,  twice,  and  trru\o;,  a column), 
a portico  of  two  columns.  This  term  is  not 
generally  applied  to  the  mere  porch  with  two 
columns,  but  to  describe  a portico  with  two 
columns  in  antis.  The  elevation  of  the 
pronaos  of  the  hexastyle  peripteral  temple 
exhibits  an  example  of  distyle  in  antis. 

Ditriglyph  (Gr.  Si;,  twice,  and  triglyph,  q.  ».), 
an  intercolumniation  in  the  Doric  order,  of 
two  triglyphs.  (See  Mcnotriglyph.) 

Dodecastyle  (Gr.  Sufixx,  twelve,  and  <rrv\o;, 
a column),  a portico  of  twelve  columns  in 
front. 

Dome  (Gr.  Sa/j.x,  a structure  of  any  kind  ; 
whence  the  Latin  domus,  a house  or  temple), 


a cupola  or  inverted  cup  on  a building.  The 
application  of  this  term  to  its  generally  re- 
ceived purpose  is  from  the  Italian  custom  of 
calling  an  archiepiscopal  church,  by  way  of 
eminence,  II  duomo,  the  temple  ; for  to  one 
of  that  rank,  the  cathedral  of  Florence,  the 
cupola  was  first  applied  in  modern  practice. 
The  Italians  themselves  never  call  a cupola 
a dome  : it  is  on  this  side  the  Alps  the  mis- 
take has  arisen,  from  the  circumstance,  it 
would  appear,  that  the  Italians  use  the  term 
with  reference  to  those  structures  whose 
most  distinguishing  feature  is  the  cupola, 
tholus,  (or  as  we  now  call  it)  dome.  (See 
Cupola.  ) 

t Dripstone,  the  moulding  or  cornice  which 
acts  as  a canopy  to  doors  and  windows. 
Horizontal  running  mouldings  arc  some- 
times called  tablets  and  sometimes  drip- 
stones. 

Drops.  (See  Guttze). 

Echinus  (Gr.  an  egg),  a moulding  of 

eccentric  curve,  which  (when  it  is  carved) 
being  generally  cut  into  the  forms  of  eggs 
and  anchors  alternating,  the  moulding  is 
called  by  the  name  of  the  more  conspicuous. 
It  is  the  same  as  Ovalo,  q.  v. 

Elevation,  the  front,  or  facade  as  the  French 
term  it,  of  a structure.  A geometrical  draw- 
ing of  the  external  upright  parts  of  a build- 
ing. Architects  speak  of  front,  back-front, 
and  side  or  end  elevations. 

Entablature  or  Entablature  (Lat.  in,  upon, 
and  tabula  a tablet).  The  superimposed 
horizontal  mass  in  a columnar  ordinance, 
which  rests  upon  the  tablet  or  abacus  of  a 
column,  is  sc  called.  It  is  conventionally 
composed  of  three  parts,  architrave,  frieze, 
and  cornice. 

Entasis  Gr.  ivTxtri;,  a stretching  or  swelling). 
Columns  arc  said  to  have  entasis  when  they 
do  not  diminish  regularly,  but  in  a curved 
line. 

EpistyltuM  or  Epistyle  (Gr.  s m,  upon,  and 
vtvxos,  a column).  This  term  may  with 
propriety  be  applied  to  the  whole  entablature, 
with  which  it  is  synonymous  ; but  it  is  re- 
stricted in  use  to  the  architrave  or  low’est 
member  of  the  entablature. 

Escape,  a term  sometimes  used  for  the  apo- 
phyge  of  a column.  (See  Apophyge.) 

Euystyle  (Gr.  n,  well,  and  o-tuko;,  a column), 
a species  of  intercolumniation,  to  which  a 
proportion  of  two  diameters  and  a quarter  is 
assigned.  This  term,  together  with  the 


ARCHITECTURAL  TERMS. 


73 


others  of  similar  import, — pycnostyle,  sy- 
style,  diastyle,  and  arasostyle,  referring  to 
the  distances  of  columns  from  one  another 
in  composition,  is  from  Vitruvius,  who  as- 
signs to  each  the  space  it  is  to  express.  It 
will  be  seen,  however,  by  reference  to  them 
individually,  that  the  words  themselves, 
though  perhaps  sufficiently  applicable,  con- 
vey no  idea  of  an  exactly  defined  space, 
and  by  reference  to  the  columnar  structures 
of  the  ancients,  that  no  attention  was  paid 
by  them  to  such  limitations.  "It  follows, 
then,  that  the  proportions  assigned  to  each  . 
are  purely  conventional,  and  may  or  may 
not  be  attended  to  without  vitiating  the  pow- 
er of  applying  the  terms.  Eustyle  means 
the  best  or  most  beautiful  arrangement ; but 
as  the  effect  of  a columnar  composition  de- 
pends on  many  things  besides  the  diameter  of 
the  columns,  the  same  proportioned  interco- 
lumniation  would  look  well  or  ill,  accord- 
ing to  those  other  circumstances ; so  that 
the  limitation  of  eustyle  to  two  diameters 
and  a quarter  is  absurd,  and  so  it  is  in  the 
case  of  the  other  similar  terms.  With 
Doric  intercolumniation  it  is  different,  as 
may  be  seen  by  reference  to  the  word 
Monotriglyph. 

Facade.  (See  Elevation.) 

Fascia  (Lat.  a band).  The  narrow  vertical 
bands  or  broad  fillets  into  which  the  archi- 
traves of  Corinthian  and  Ionic  entablatures 
are  divided,  are  called  fascise  or  fascias  ; 
and  the  term  is  generally  applied  to  any 
similar  member  in  architecture, 
t Featherings.  (See  Foliations.) 

Fillet,  a narrow  vertical  band  or  listel,  of 
frequent  use  in  congeries  of  mouldings,  to 
separate  and  combine  them,  and  also  to  give 
breadth  and  firmness  to  the  upper  edge  of  a 
crowning  cyma  or  cavetto,  as  in  an  external 
cornice.  The  narrow  slips  or  breadths  be- 
tween the  flutes  of  Corinthian  and  Ionic 
columns  are  also  called  fillets, 
t Finial  (Lat.  finis,  the  end.)  This  term  is 
equivalent  to  the  Greek  Acroterium.  It  is 
applied  to  the  carved  apex  of  pediments, 
piers,  pinnacles,  and  canopies. 

Flute,  a concave  channel.  Columns  whose 
shafts  are  channelled  are  said  to  be  fluted, 
and  the  flutes  are  collectively  called  flutings. 
t Foliations  or  Featherings,  small  arches 
meeting  in  points  or  cusps,  which  are  plain 
or  enriched.  They  are  used  as  an  enrich- 
ment in  tracery,  and  are  distinguished  as 
10 


trefoils,  quatrefoils,  and  cinquefoils,  as  the 
case  may  be. 

Frieze  ( Ital.  fregio,  from  the  Lat,  phrygio- 
nius,  enriched  or  embroidered),  that  portion 
of  an  entablature  between  the  cornice  above 
and  the  architrave  below.  It  derives  its 
name  from  being  the  recipient  of  the  sculp- 
tured enrichments  either  of  foliage  or  figures 
which  may  be  relevant  to  the  object  of  the 
structure.  The  frieze  is  also  called  the 
zoophorus. 

Frontispiece,  the  front  or  principal  elevation 
of  a structure.  This  term,  however,  is  ge- 
nerally restricted  in  application  to  a deco- 
rated entrance. 

Gable.  When  a roof  is  not  hipped  or  returned 
on  itself  at  the  ends,  its  ends  are  stopped  by 
carrying  up  the  walls  under  them  in  the  tri- 
angular form  of  the  roof  itself.  This  is 
called  the  gable,  or  indeed,  the  pediment. 
The  latter  term,  however,  is  restricted  to 
the  ornamental  and  ornamented  gable  ; and 
gable  itself  is  applied  to  a plain  triangular 
end. 

Gradino  (Ital.  dim.  of  gtadus,  a step).  Ar- 
chitects frequently  used  the  plural  of  this 
term,  gradini,  and  to  gradinate,  instead  of 
the  English,  steps,  and  to  graduate,  perhaps 
without  sufficient  reason,  though  they  find 
them  useful  to  distinguish  what  they  intend 
from  the  meaning  of  the  latter  words  in 
their  ordinary  acceptation. 

Groining.  In  vaulting  or  arching  over  from 
insulated  piers,  the  cross  vaults  meet  in 
angles,  and  lead  to  a common  centre  or  apex. 
This  is  called  groining. 

Guiloche  or  Guilochos  (Gr.  ymov,  a member, 
xo%oc,  a snare).  An  interlaced  ornament 
like  network,  used  most  frequently  to  enrich 
the  torus. 

Gutt«  (Lat.  drops).  The  small  cylindrical 
drops  used  to  enrich  the  mutules  and  regular 
of  the  Doric  entablature  are  so  called. 

Helix  (Gr.  a wreath  or  ringlet),  used 

synonymously  with  Cauliculus,  q.  v.  It 
forms  in  the  plural  Helices. 

Hkmiglyph  (Gr.  hfj.it}- u;,  half,  and  yxucpii,  an  in- 
cision  or  channel).  The  half-channels,  or 
rather  chamfered  edges,  of  a triglyph  tablet, 
may  be  so  called.  The  two  hcmiglj'phs  are 
included  to  make  the  third  channel,  and  com- 
plete the  triglyph.  (See  Triglyph.) 

Hexastyle  (Gr.  ii*,  six,  and  vtuxo?,  a column). 
A portico  of  six  columns  in  front  is  of  this 


74 


ARCHITECTURAL  TERMS. 


description.  Most  of  the  churches  in  Lon- 
don which  have  porticoes  have  hexa-pro- 
styles.  (See  Prostyle.) 

Hypasthral.  (See  Hypasthkos.) 

Hypasthiios.  (Gr.  thro,  under,  and  aiS^z,  the 
air),  a temple  open  to  the  air,  or  uncovered. 
The  Greeks  frequently  made  the  temples  of 
the  supreme  divinities  hypsethral.  For  in- 
stance, those  of  Jupiter  Olympius  at  Agri- 
gentum  in  Sicily,  of  Neptune  at  Prestum, 
and  of  Minerva  Parthenon  at  Athens,  are 
all  of  this  description.  The  term  may  be 
the  more  easily  understood  by  supposing 
the  roof  removed  from  over  the  nave  of  a 
church  in  which  columns  or  piers  go  up  from 
the  floor  to  the  ceiling,  leaving  the  aisles  still 
covered.  In  that  case  it  would  be  hypaethral, 
after  the  manner  of  the  Greek  hypasthros. 
The  Pantheon  in  Rome  having  an  opening 
in  the  centre  of  the  dome,  is  thereby  rendered 
hyprethral. 

Hypogea  (Gr.  Cm,  under,  and  yr,  the  earth). 
Constructions  under  the  surface  of  the  earth, 
or  into  the  sides  of  a hill  or  mountain,  are 
hypogea. 

Hypotrachelium  (Gr.  Cm,  upon,  and 

the  neck,)  the  part  forming  the  junction  of 
the  shaft  with  the  capital  of  a column  ; the 
neck  of  the  capital  itself.  In  some  styles  it 
is  a projecting  fillet  or  moulding,  and  in 
others,  as  the  Doric,  it  is  composed  of  a 
channel  or  groove,  and  sometimes  of  more 
than  one. 

Jamb,  the  side-post  or  lining  of  a door-way  or 
other  aperture.  The  jambs  of  a window 
outside  the  frame  are  called  reveals. 

Ichnography  (Gr.  i%v os,  a footstep  or  track, 
and  a description  or  representation). 

A plan  or  the  representation  of  the  site  of 
an  object  on  a horizontal  plane,  is  its  ichno- 
graphy. The  term  plan  (q.  v.)  is,  however, 
much  more  frequently  used  than  this. 

Impost  (Lat.  impositus,  laid  upon).  The  ho- 
rizontal congeries  of  mouldings  forming  the 
capital  of  a pier,  or  edge  pilaster,  which  has 
to  support  one  leg  of  an  arch,  is  called  the 
impost ; sometimes,  and  more  conveniently, 
this  term  is  used  for  the  pilaster  itself,  when 
its  capital  is  called  the  impost  cap  or  impost 
mouldings. 

Intercolumniation  (Lat.  inter,  between,  and 
column,  q.  «.).  The  distance  from  column 
to  column,  the  clear  space  between  columns, 
is  called  the  intercolumniation. 

f Label,  the  level  moulding  or  dripstone  over 


a door  or  window,  common  in  the  later 
Pointed  works.  It  is  generally  turned  down 
at  the  ends  at  right  angles,  and  slightly  re- 
turned again  horizontally  and  outwards. 

Lacunar  (Lat.),  a panelled  or  coffered  ceiling 
or  soffit.  The  panels  or  cassoons  of  a ceil- 
ing are  more  classically  called  lacunaria. 

t Lantern  (Lat.  lanterna),  a turret  raised 
above  a roof  or  tower,  and  very  much 
pierced,  the  better  to  transmit  light.  In 
modern  practice  this  term  is  generally  ap- 
plied to  any  raised  part  in  a roof  or  ceiling, 
containing  vertical  windows,  but  covered  in 
horizontally. 

Metope  (Gr.  /utrom,  a middle  space),  the 
square  recess  between  the  triglyphs  in  a 
Doric  frieze.  It  is  sometimes  occupied  by 
sculptures. 

Mezzanine  (Ital.  mezzanino,  dim.  of  mezzo, 
the  middle),  a low  story  between  two  lofty 
ones.  It  is  called  by  the  French  entresol, 
or  inter-story. 

Modillion  (Lat.  modulus,  a measure  of  pro- 
portion), so  called  because  of  its  arrange- 
ment in  regulated  distances ; the  enriched 
block  or  horizontal  bracket  generally  found 
under  the  cornice  of  the  Corinthian  enta- 
blature. Less  ornamented,  it  is  sometimes 
used  in  the  Ionic.  See  also  Mutule. 

Module  (Lat.  modulus,  a modus,  a measure 
or  rule).  This  is  a term  which  has  been 
generally  used  by  architects  in  determining 
the  relative  proportions  of  the  various  parts 
of  a columnar  ordinance.  The  semidia- 
meter of  the  column  is  the  module,  which 
being  divided  into  thirty  parts  called  mi- 
nutes, any  part  of  the  composition  is  said 
to  be  of  so  many  modules  and  minutes,  or 
minutes  alone,  in  height,  breadth,  or  projec- 
tion. The  whole  diameter  is  now  gene- 
rally preferred  as  a modus,  it  being  a better 
rule  of  proportion  than  its  half. 

Monopteral.  (See  Monopteros.) 

Monopteros  (Gr.  /xovoc,  one,  or  single,  and 
57-Tsgo?,  a wing).  This  term  is  incorrectly 
used  by  Vitruvius  to  describe  a tempi#  com- 
posed of  a circular  range  of  columns  sup- 
porting a tholus,  cupola,  or  dome,  but  without 
walls.  (See  Peripteral.)  Such  an  edifice 
would  be  more  correctly  designated  as 
Cyclostylar,  q.  v. 

Monotriglyph  (Gr.  /uovo c one,  or  single,  and 
triglyph,  q.  v.)  The  intercolumniations  of 
the  Doric  order  are  determined  by  the  num- 
ber of  triglyphs  which  intervene,  instead  of 
the  number  of  diameters  of  the  column,  as 


ARCHITECTURAL  TERMS. 


75 


in  other  cases  ; and  this  term  designates  the 
ordinary  intercolumniation  of  one  triglyph. 

Mouldings,  eccentric  curves  of  various  kinds, 
intended  to  enrich  and  ornament,  by  pro. 
ducing  light  and  shade,  and  obviating  the 
monotony  attendant  on  many  flat  and  angu- 
lar surfaces.  They  may  be  variously  carved 
to  increase  their  efficiency.  The  most  usual 
forms  of  mouldings  are  called  the  cyma- 
recta  and  reversa,  cavetto,  scotia,  torus, 
astragal  or  bead,  and  the  echinus  or  ovalo. 
In  Pointed  architecture,  mouldings  arc  not 
limited  either  to  those  names  or  to  the  forms 
they  are  intended  to  designate,  nor  indeed  is 
any  other  style,  except  by  absurd  custom  and 
authority. 

t Mullion,  the  columnar  vertical  bar  used  to 
divide  a window  into  breadths  ; the  trunk 
out  of  which  tracery  flows. 

Mutule,  (Lat.  mutulus,  a stay  or  bracket,)  the 
rectangular  impending  blocks  under  the 
corona  of  the  Doric  cornice,  from  which 
guttse  or  drops  depend.  Mutule  is  equiva- 
lent to  modillion,  but  the  latter  term  s ap- 
plied more  particularly  to  enriched  blocks 
or  brackets,  such  as  those  of  Ionic  and 
Corinthian  entablatures. 

N aos,  (Gr.  v«.oc,  a temple.)  This  term  is  some- 
times used  instead  of  the  Latin  Colla,  as 
applied  to  the  interior;  strictly,  however,  it 
means  the  body  of  the  edifice  itself,  and  not 
merely  its  interior  or  cell. 

Newel,  the  solid  or  hollow  column  or  cylinder 
which  bears  up  the  handrail  of  a staircase 
at  the  foot  and  in  the  most  material  parts. 
It  means  also  the  core  or  hollow,  as  the  case 
may  be,  about  which  a circular  staircase 
winds. 

Niche,  a concave  recess  in  a wall,  with  a 
straight  or  single  head.  Niches  are  gene- 
rally made  to  receive  statues,  vases,  &c. 

Octastyle  (Gr.  okt w,  eight,  and  oruxoc,  a co- 
lumn.) A portico  of  eight  columns  in  front. 
(See  note  to  Hexastyle.)  It  may  indeed  be 
called  a pseudo-octa-prostyle.  (See  Pseudo- 
prostyle.) 

Ogee,  the  vulgar  name  for  the  Cyma,  q.  v. 

Opisthodomus  (Gr.  o tns-flsv  behind,  and 

a house  or  other  edifice,)  the  part  behind  a 
Greek  temple  corresponding  with  the  Pro- 
naos  before  it.  (See  Pronaos.) 

Order.  A column  with  its  entablature  and 
stylobate  is  so  called.  The  term  is  the  re- 
sult of  the  dogmatic  laws  deduced  from  the 


writings  of  Vitruvius,  and  has  been  exclu- 
sively applied  to  those  arrangements  which 
they  were  thought  to  warrant. 

Ordinance,  a composition  of  some  particular 
order  or  style.  It  need  not,  however,  be 
restricted  to  a columnar  composition,  for  it 
will  apply  to  any  species  which  is  subjected 
to  conventional  rules  for  its  arrangement. 

Orthography,  (Gr.  ogOoc,  straight  or  true,  and 
a description  or  representation.)  A 
geometrical  elevation  of  a building  or  other 
object,  in  which  it  is  represented  as  it  ac- 
tually exists,  or  may  exist,  and  not  perspec- 
tively,  or  as  it  would  appear,  is  called  its 
orthography. 

Orthostyle,  (Gr.  ogflo?,  straight  or  true,  and 
OTuy-oj,  a column,)  any  straight  range  of  co- 
lumns. This  is  a term  suggested  to  desig- 
nate what  is  generally  but  improperly  called 
a peristyle,  q.  v. ; that  is,  columns  in  a straight 
row  or  range,  but  not  forming  a portico. 

Ovalo,  (Ital.),  egg-formed  (See  Echinus.)  This 
is  the  name  most  commonly  applied  to  tile 
moulding  which  appears  to  have  originated 
in  the  moulded  head  of  the  Doric  column, 
and,  with  an  abacus,  forming  its  capital. 

Panel,  a compartment  with  raised  margins, 
moulded  or  otherwise.  Deep  panels  in  a 
ceiling  are  called  Cassoons,  and  Lacunaria, 
q.  v. 

Parapet  (Ital.)  parapetto , against  the  breast,  or 
breast-high,)  the  low  breast-high  wall  which 
is  used  to  front  terraces  and  balconies,  to 
flank  bridges,  &c.  The  most  common  ap- 
plication of  the  term  in  this  country  is  to  so 
much  of  the  external  walls  of  a house  as 
stands  above  the  level  gutters  of  the  roof 
behind. 

Pakastas  (Gr.  iragas-Tst c,  standing  before,)  an 
antae  or  end  pilaster.  This  is  the  Greek 
term  for  which  the  latin  antie  is  generally 
used,  and  it  has  the  same  meaning.  (See 
Ant^e.) 

Pedestal  (Gr.  mu;,  a foot,  and  otuasc,  a co- 
lumn.) An  insulated  stylobate  is  for  the 
most  part  so  called.  The  term  is,  more- 
over, generally  applied  to  any  parallelogra- 
mic  or  cylindrical  mass  used  as  the  base- 
ment of  any  single  object,  as  a statue  or 
vase. 

Pfdiment,  that  part  of  a portico  which  rises 
above  its  entablature  to  cover  the  end  of 
the  roof,  whose  triangular  form  it  takes. 
The  cornice  of  the  entablature,  or  its  corona 
and  part  of  the  bed-mould  only,  with  the 


70 


ARCHITECTURAL  TERMS. 


addition  of  a cymalium,  bounds  its  inclined 
sides,  and  joins  in  an  obtuse  angle  at  the 
apex.  In  Pointed  Architecture,  however, 
the  angle  of  a pediment  is  for  the  most  part 
acute. 

+ Pendent  (Lat.  pendens,  hanging.)  In  some 
of  the  later  works  of  the  Pointed  style, 
large  masses  depend  from  enriched  ceilings, 
and  appear  to  be  formed  by  the  other  legs 
of  intersecting  arches  : these  are  called 
pendents.  They  also  occur  in  canopies. 

Peribolus  (Gr.  mep,  around  or  about,  and 
f&tZKktt,  to  gird  or  throw  around,)  an  inclo- 
sure. Any  inclosed  space  is  a peribolus  ; 
but  the  term  is  applied  more  particularly  to 
the  sacred  inclosurc  about  a temple.  The 
wall  forming  the  inclosure  is  also  called 
the  peribolus. 

Peripteral.  (See  Peripteros.) 

Peripteros  (Gr.  7figt,  around  or  about,  and 
5TTegov,  a wing.)  A temple  or  other  struc- 
ture with  the  columns  of  its  end,  prostyles 
or  porticoes,  returned  on  its  sides  or  wings, 
and  one  intercolumniation  distant  from  the 
walls.  Almost  all  the  Doric  temples  of  the 
Greeks  were  peripteral.  The  term  is,  how- 
ever, incorrectly  applied  by  Vitruvius  to 
peristylar  structures,  though  it  is  clear  that 
a perfectly  round  building,  such  as  he  de- 
scribes to  be  peripteral,  cannot  be  said  to  be 
winged  or  to  have  wings. 

Peristyler,  having  a Peristyle.  (See  Peri- 
style. 

Peristyle  (Gr.  around  or  about,  and 

o-Tuto;,  a column,)  a range  of  columns  en- 
circling an  edifice,  such  as  that  which  sur- 
rounds the  cylindrical  drum  under  the  cu- 
pola of  St.  Paul’s.  The  columns  of  a Greek 
peripteral  temple  form  a 'peristyle  also,  the 
former  being  a circular  and  the  latter  a 
quadrilateral  peristyle.  The  same  term  is 
generally  but  incorrectly  applied  to  a range 
of  columns,  in  almost  any  situation,  when 
they  do  not  form  a portico.  (See  Ortho- 
style.) 

Pier.  The  solid  parts  of  a wall  between 
windows,  and  between  openings  generally, 
are  called  piers.  The  term  is  also  applied 
to  masses  of  brick-work  or  masonry,  which 
are  insulated  to  form  supports  to  gates  or  to 
carry  arches. 

Pilaster  (Lat.  pila,  a pillar,  and  the  Ital.  aug- 
mentative astro,  which  indicates  an  inferior 
quality,)  an  inferior  sort  of  column  or  pil- 
lar ; a projection  from  or  against  a pier, 
having  the  form  and  decorations  of  antee, 


when  used  correctly ; but  too  frequently 
they  have  capitals,  like  those  of  columns, 
assigned  them. 

Pillar  (Lat.  pila,  and  Ital. piliere,)  a columnar 
mass  of  no  particular  form.  Columns  are 
vulgarly  called  pillars  ; but  architects  make 
a distinction,  restricting  this  term  to  such 
pillars  as  do  not  come  within  the  descrip- 
tion of  a column.  (See  Column.) 

Pillowed.  A swollen  or  rounded  frieze  is 
said  to  be  pillowed  or  pulvinated. 

t Pinnacle,  the  slender  tapering  head  of  a tur- 
ret or  buttress.  A small  spire,  or  the  head 
of  a spire  or  steeple. 

Plan,  a horizontal  geometrical  section  of  the 
walls  of  a building ; or  indications,  on  a 
horizontal  plane,  of  the  relative  positions 
of  the  walls  and  partitions,  with  the  various 
openings,  such  as  windows  and  doors, — re- 
cesses and  projections,  as  chimneys  and 
chimney  breasts, — columns,  pilasters,  &c. 
This  term  is  often  incorrectly  used  in  the 
sense  of  Design. 

Planceer  is  sometimes  used  in  the  same  sense 
as  soffit,  but  incorrectly,  as  it  is  from  the 
French  plancker,  to  board  or  floor.  It  is 
more  particularly  applied  to  the  soffit  of  the 
corona  in  a cornice. 

Plinth  (Gr.  7r\ivSot,  a square  tile.)  In  the 
Roman  orders  the  lowest  member  of  the 
base  of  a column  is  square  and  vertically 
faced;  this  is  called  a plinth. 

Polytriglyph  (Gr.  iwAtir,  many,  and  triglyph, 
q.  v .)  An  intercolumniation  in  the  Doric 
order  of  more  than  two  triglyphs.  (See 
Monqtriglyph  and  Ditriglyph.) 

Portico  (an  Italicism  of  the  Lat.  Porticus ,)  an 
open  space  before  the  door  or  other  entrance 
to  any  building,  fronted  with  columns.  A 
portico  is  distinguished  as  prostyle,  or  in 
antis,  as  it  may  project  from  or  recede  with- 
in the  building,  and  is  designated  with  either 
of  these  terms  by  the  number  of  columns  its 
front  may  consist  of.  (See  Distyle,  Tetra- 
STYLE,  HeXASTYLE,  OcTASTYLE,  &C. 

Porticus,  (Lat.  See  Portico.)  In  an  amphi- 
prostylar  or  peripteral  temple,  this  term  is 
used  to  distinguish  the  portico  at  the  en- 
trance from  that  behind,  which  is  called  the 
posticum. 

Posticum  (Lat.)  A portico  behind  a temple. 
(See  Porticus  and  Portico.) 

Pronaos,  (Gr.  Ttep,  before,  and  vm;,  a temple.) 
The  inner  portico  of  a temple,  or  the  space 
between  the  porticus,  or  outer  portico,  and 
the  door  opening  into  the  cclla,  This  is  a 


ARCHITECTURAL  TERMS. 


77 


conventional  use  of  the  term  ; for,  strictly, 
the  pronaos  is  the  portico  itself. 

Propyl.eum  (Gr.  wgo,  before,  and  wu\n,  a portal), 
any  structure  or  structures  forming  the  en- 
trance to  the  peribolus  of  a temple  ; also  the 
space  lying  between  the  entrance  and  the 
temple.  In  common  usage  this  term,  in  the 
plural  (propylasa),  is  almost  restricted  to  the 
entrance  to  the  Acropolis  of  Athens,  which 
is  known  by  it  as  a name. 

Prostyle  (Gr.  irgo  before,  and  ervuxos,  a co- 
lumn). A portico  in  which  the  columns 
project  from  the  building  to  which  it  is 
attached  is  called  a prostyle.  It  is  tautolo- 
gous  to  say  a prostyle  portico, — a prostyle  is 
a portico.  Custom,  however,  seems  to  war- 
rant the  impropriety,  for  the  word  portico  is 
always  superadded.  In  determining  the 
number  of  columns  of  which  a portico  con- 
sists, the  Greek  numerals  are  prefixed  to  the 
term  Style,  q.  v.,  and  prostyle  is  repeated. 
It  would  be  more  concise,  and,  at  the  least, 
equally  correct,  to  put  the  numeral  before 
prostyle,  and  say  tetra-prostyle,  hexa-pro- 
style,  &c.  instead  of  tetrastyle-prost.yle,  &c. 
as  the  custom  is ; that  mode  is  adapted  in 
this  article  throughout. 

Pseudo-dipteral  (Gr.  4 a/Ac,  false  and  dip- 
teral, q.  v.  false  double-winged.  When  the 
inner  row  of  columns  of  a dipteral  arrange- 
ment is  omitted,  and  the  space  from  the  wall 
of  the  building  to  the  columns  is  preserved 
of  the  consequent  double  projection,  it  is 
pseudo-dipteral.  The  portico  of  the  Lon- 
don University  is  pseudo-dipterally  ar- 
ranged, the  returning  columns  on  the  ends 
or  sides  not  being  carried  through  behind 
those  in  front. 

Pseudo-peripteral  (Gr.  ■J.wS'us,  false,  and_  pe- 
ripteral, q.  v.),  false-winged.  A temple  hav- 
ing the  columns  on  its  flanks  attached  to  the 
walls,  instead  of  being  arranged  as  in  a pe- 
ripteros,  is  said  to  be  pseudo-peripteral. 
Pseudo-prostyle  (Gr.  4 £u<h>c>  false,  and  pro- 
style, q.  v.).  This  is  a term  not  in  general 
used,  but  is  suggested  to  designate  a portico 
projecting  less  than  the  space  from  one  co- 
lumn to  another,  as  the  western  porticoes  to 
St.  Paul’s  cathedral,  and  the  portico  to  the 
East  India  House,  in  London  ; but  that  they 
are  recessed  also,  and  therefore  may  be  de- 
scribed as  pseudo-prostyle  and  recessed. 
The  front  of  Trinity  Church  in  the  new 
road,  near  the  Regent’s  Park,  in  London 
also,  presents  a mere  pseudo-prostyle. 
Pulvinated  (Lat.  pulvinus,  a cushion  or  bol- 


ster), a term  used  to  express  the  swelling  or 
bolstering  of  the  frieze  which  is  found  in 
some  of  the  inferior  works  of  the  Roman 
school,  and  is  common  in  Italian  practice. 
It  is  used  indifferently  with  pillowed. 

Pycnostyle  (Gr.  ttouvo;,  dense,  and  o-ti/aoc  a 
column),  columns  thickly  set.  The  space 
or  intercolumniation  assigned  to  this  term 
is  one  diameter  and  a half.  (See  Eustyle.) 

Quatre-foil,  tracery  in  four  foliations  or  fea- 
therings ; but  applicable  only  to  circular  or 
square  panels,  and  not  to  arches. 

Quoin  (Lat.  ancon,  an  elbow  or  corner,  whence 
the  Fr.  coin),  a corner-stone.  The  stones 
which  are  made  to  project  from  the  regular 
surface  of  the  walls  at  the  angles  of  a build- 
ing arc  technically  called  quoins.  The 
front  of  the  Farnese  Palace  exemplifies 
them. 

Regula  (Lat.),  a rule  or  square.  The  short 
fillet  or  rectangular  block,  under  the  tienia, 
on  the  architrave  of  the  Doric  entablature, 
is  so  called. 

t Rose  or  Catiierine-wiieel  Window,  the 
large  circular  window  filled  with  various 
tracery,  which  is  common  in  the  upper  part 
of  transept  fronts  in  churches  and  cathe- 
drals. 

Scotia  (Gr.  cncoTix.,  shadow  or  darkness),  a 
concave  moulding,  most  commonly  used  in 
bases,  which  projects  a deeper  shadow  on 
itself  than  any  other  form  would  possess  in 
an  underview  position.  It  is  like  a reversed 
ovalo,  or  rather  what  the  mould  of  an  ovalo 
would  present. 

Scroll,  synonymous  with  volute.  The  term 
scroll  is  commonly  applied  to  the  more  or- 
dinary purposes,  while  volute  is  generally 
restricted  to  the  scrolls  of  the  Ionic  capital. 

Section,  a drawing  showing  the  internal 
heights  of  the  various  parts  of  a building. 
It  supposes  it  to  be  cut  through  entirely,  so 
as  to  exhibit  the  walls,  the  heights  of  the 
internal  doors,  and  other  apertures ; the 
heights  of  the  stories,  thicknesses  of  the 
floors,  &c.  It  is  one  of  the  species  of  draw- 
ings necessary  to  the  exhibition  of  a De- 
sign, q.  v. 

Shaft.  The  body  or  tapering  cylindrical  mass 
of  a column,  from  the  base  below  to  the  capi- 
tal above,  is  so  called. 

Sill  or  Sole  (Lat.  Solum,  a threshold,  whence 
the  Fr.  seuil).  The  horizontal  base  of  a 


78 


ARCHITECTURAL  TERMS. 


door  or  window-frame  is  called  its  sill, 
though  in  practice  a technical  distinction  is 
made  between  the  inner  or  wooden  base  of 
the  window-frame  and  the  stone  base  on 
which  it  rests,  the  latter  being  called  the  sill 
of  the  window,  and  the  former  that  of  its 
frame.  This  term  is  not  restricted  to  the 
bases  of  apertures ; the  lower  horizontal 
part  of  a framed  partition  is  called  its  sill. 
It  is  often  incorrectly  written  cill. 

Soffit  (Ital.  soffitta,  a ceiling),  the  inverted 
horizontal  face  of  anything.  The  horizon- 
tal face  of  an  entablature  resting  on,  and 
lying  open  between,  the  columns,  is  its  soffit. 
The  underface  of  an  arch,  where  its  thick- 
ness is  seen,  is  its  soffit. 

Spandrel.  The  unoccupied  angles,  or  rather 
the  excluded  triangles  of  a square,  described 
about  a circle,  are  called  spandrels  ; whence 
almost  any  triangular  space  is  designated 
by  the  same  term. 

+ Spire,  the  tapering  mass  which  forms  the 
summit  of  a steeple. 

Steeple.  This  term  is  used  in  contradistinc- 
tion to  tower,  the  latter  being  upright,  or 
nearly  so,  and  terminating  almost  abruptly, 
or  with  pinnacles,  and  the  steeple  running 
to  a point  with  sides  converging  from  the 
base  upwards,  or  from  a certain  height 
only. 

Stele  (Gr.  trr»xn,  a cippus  or  small  monu- 
ment). The  ornaments  on  the  ridge  of  a 
Greek  temple,  answering  to  the  antefixae  on 
the  summit  of  the  flank  entablatures,  are 
thus  designated. 

Stereobate  (Gr.  <r Tsges?,  firm,  or  solid,  and 
a base  or  fulciment),  a basement.  It  is 
sought  to  make  a distinction  between  this 
term  and  Stylobate,  q.  v.,  by  restricting  the 
latter  to  its  real  import,  and  applying  stereo- 
bate to  a basement  in  the  absence  of  columns. 

Stoa  (Gr.  cttou.,  a portico.)  This  is  the  Greek 
equivalent  for  the  Latin  porticus  and  the 
Italo-English  portico,  q.  v. 

String  or  String-course,  a narrow,  vertical- 
faced,  and  slightly  projecting  course  in  an 
elevation.  If  window-sills  are  made  con- 
tinuous, they  form  a string-course  ; but  if 
this  course  is  made  thicker  or  deeper  than 
ordinary  window-sills,  it  becomes  a block- 
ing-course. 

Style  (Gr.  erruxos,  a column).  The  term  style 
is  of  very  constant  use  in  the  composition  of 
architectural  names  and  distinctions,  and  in 
those  compositions  it  is  not  to  be  understood 
in  its  ordinary  and  almost  unlimited  appli- 


cation, but  in  its  simple  and  original  mean- 
ing, — a column.  It  is,  however,  not  used  in 
that  sense  unless  in  composition  ; but  in  its 
ordinary  acceptation  it  is  applied  to  the  va- 
rieties of  architecture,  as  the  Greek  and 
Roman  styles,  &c. 

Stylobate  (Gr.  a-roxo;,  a column,  and  /Zz<ns,  a 
base  or  fulciment),  a basement  to  columns. 
(See  Stereobate.)  Stylobate  is  synonymous 
with  pedestal,  but  is  applied  to  a continued 
and  unbroken  substructure  or  basement  to 
columns,  while  the  latter  term  is  confined  to 
insulated  supports. 

Surbase  (Lat.  super,  whence  the  Fr.  sur,  above 
or  upon,  and  base,  q.  v.),  an  upper  base.  This 
term  is  applied  to  what,  in  the  fittings  of  a 
room,  is  familiarly  called  the  chair-rail.  It 
is  also  used  to  designate  the  cornice  of  a 
pedestal  or  stereobate,  and  is  separated  from 
the  base  by  the  dado  or  die. 

Sistyle  (Gr.  eruv,  together  with,  and  erruxos,  a 
column),  columns  rather  thickly  set.  An 
intercolumniation  to  which  two  diameters 
are  assigned.  See  Eustyle. 

t Tabernacle,  a canopied  recess  or  niche. 
The  rich  ornamental  tracery  forming  the 
canopy,  &c.  to  a tabernacle,  is  called  taber- 
nacle-work : it  is  common  in  the  stalls  and 
screens  of  cathedrals,  and  in  them  is  gene- 
rally open  or  pierced  through. 

t Tablet.  Projecting  mouldings,  or  moulded 
strings  in  the  Pointed  style,  are  better  de- 
scribed as  tablets  than  as  cornices. 

T.'Enia  (Lat.)  a band.  (See  Band.) 

Terminal.  Figures  of  which  the  upper 
parts  only,  or  perhaps  the  head  and  shoul- 
ders alone,  are  carved,  the  rest  running  into 
a diminishing  pedestal,  with  feet  indicated 
below,  or  even  without  them,  are  called  ter- 
minal figures. 

Tetrastoon  (Gr.  rergz,  four,  and  trrox.,  a porti- 
co). An  atrium  or  rectangular  court-yard, 
having  a colonnade  or  projected  orthostyle 
on  every  side,  is  called  a tetrastoon. 

Tetrastyle  (Gr.  TSTg-x,  four  and  irruxoc,  a co- 
lumn), a portico  of  four  columns  in  front. 

Tiiolobate  (Gr.  6oaos,  a dome  or  cupola,  and 
/2-j.ris,  a basis  or  substructure),  that  on  which 
a dome  or  cupola  rests.  This  is  a term  not 
in  general  use,  but  not  the  less  of  useful 
application.  What  is  generally  termed  the 
attic  above  the  peristyle  and  under  the  cu- 
pola of  St.  Paul’s,  would  be  correctly  desig- 
nated the  tiiolobate.  A tholobate  of  a dif. 


ARCHITECTURAL  TERMS. 


79 


ferent  description,  and  one  to  which  no 
other  name  can  well  be  applied,  is  the  cir- 
cular substructure  to  the  cupola  of  the  Lon- 
don University. 

Tiiolus  or  Tiiolos  (Gr.)  a dome  or  cupola, 
or  any  round  edifice.  This  is  the  only  term 
used  by  Greek  writers  that  can  be  supposed 
to  apply  to  the  conical  chambers  which  ap- 
proach, in  internal  form,  to  that  of  the  mo- 
dern cupola  or  dome,  and  is  therefore  made 
the  Greek  equivalent  for  those  terms. 

Torus  (Lat.),  a protuberance  or  swelling,  a 
moulding  whose  form  is  convex,  and  gene-  ' 
rally  nearly  approaches  a semicircle.  It 
is  most  frequently  used  in  bases,  and  is  for 
the  most  part  the  lowest  moulding  in  a base. 

Tower,  a circular,  square,  or  polygonal  struc- 
ture, with  upright  or  slightly  converging 
sides,  running  to  a height  equal  to  or  greater 
than  its  diameter  or  base,  and  terminating 
abruptly  or  in  horizontal  lines.  A tower 
may  be  flanked  by  buttresses  whose  pinna- 
cles surmount  it,  and  be  superimposed  by  a 
turret,  lantern,  or  spire. 

t Tracery.  The  transoms,  mullions,  and  in- 
terlaced or  flowing  continuations  of  the  lat- 
ter, with  their  foliations  in  windows,  on 
doors,  panels,  and  in  tabernacle-work,  are 
so  called.  The  ribs  on  groined  ceilings, 
and  almost  all  eccentric  moulded  enrich- 
ments, come  under  the  same  denomination. 

Trachelium  (Gr.  rfu^tiKoi,  the  neck).  In  Do- 
ric and  Ionic  columns  there  is  generally  a 
short  space  intervening  the  hypotrachelium 
and  the  mass  of  the  capital,  which  may  be 
called  the  trachelium  or  neck. 

Transom,  the  horizontal  bar  used  to  divide  a 
mullioned  window  into  heights  ; the  straight 
and  horizontal  parts  of  tracery. 

t Trefoil,  tracery  in  three  foliations  or 
featherings. 

Triglyph  (Gr.  Tge/t,  three,  and  ybucfn,  an  inci- 


sion or  channel).  The  vertically  chanellcd 
tablets  of  the  Doric  frieze  are  called  tri- 
glyphs, because  of  the  three  angular  chan- 
nels in  them,  two  perfect  and  one  divided  ; 
the  two  chamfered  angles  or  hemiglyphs 
being  reckoned  as  one.  The  square  sunk 
spaces  between  the  triglyphs  on  a frieze  are 
called  metopes. 

t Turret,  a small  tower,  or  a tower  of  small 
base  in  proportion  to  its  height.  Turrets 
are  sometimes  placed  on  the  angles  of 
towers  ; but  in  the  later  works  of  the  style 
they  are  attached  to  the  angles  of  structures 
instead  of  buttresses,  and  they  run  up  above 
their  height  in  lieu  of  pinnacles. 

Tympanum,  the  triangular  recessed  space  in- 
closed by  the  cornice  which  bounds  a pedi- 
ment. The  Greeks  sometimes  placed  sculp- 
tures representing  subjects  in  connection 
with  the  purposes  of  the  edifice,  in  the  tym- 
pana of  temples. 

Vault,  an  arched  ceiling  or  roof.  A vault  is, 
indeed,  a laterally  conjoined  series  of  arches. 
The  arch  of  a bridge  is,  strictly  speaking,  a 
vault.  Intersecting  vaults  are  said  to  be 
groined.  (See  Groining.) 

Volute  (Lat.  volutmn,  tivolvo,  rolling  up  or 
over,  convolving.)  The  convolved  or  spiral 
ornament  which  forms  the  characteristic  of 
the  Ionic  capital  is  so  called.  The  common 
English  term  is  scroll,  q.v.  Volute,  scroll, 
helix,  and  cauliculus,  are  used  indifferently 
for  the  angular  horns  of  the  Corinthian 
capital. 

Zoophorus  (Gr.  an  animal,  and<j>e£oto 
bear.)  This  term  is  used  in  the  same  sense 
as  frieze,  and  is  so  called  because  that  part 
of  the  entablature  is  made  the  receptacle  of 
sculptures  which  are  frequently  composed  of 
various  annuals. 


. 


■ 


A MODERN  FRONT  DOOR. 


Plate  1. 

This  design  is  new,  and  in  many  instances  may  advan- 
tageously be  applied.  It  being  original,  and  differing 
materially  from  any  at  present  executed,  it  may  by  many 
be  thought  not  practical,  and  (as  is  often  the  case)  pre- 
ference given  to  worn-out  designs,  instead  of  new.  But 
prejudices  of  this  kind  are  fast  passing  away,  and  proprie- 
tors of  buildings  are  becoming  more-  liberal  in  sentiment, 
submitting  matters  of  design  and  details  to  those  more 
scienced  in  the  art  of  design  and  architecture  generally. 
Such  being  the  case,  a belief  is  entertained  that  the  design 
before  you  will  find  its  admirers. 

Fig.  1.  The  plan  representing  all  parts  of  the  elevation 
standing  thereon  : a plinth  of  architrave,  see  a on  elevation, 
Fig.  2;  b return  of  plinth  to  doorsill  c,  (see  corresponding 
letters  on  elevation;)  c doorsill ; d brick  wall ; e plan  of  archi- 
trave, (the  architrave  may  be  executed  of  stone  or  wood, 
as  may  be  seen  in  the  enlarged  drawing,  Plate  3 ;)  f recess 
jamb-piece  which  passes  the  same  overhead,  and  forms  the 
soffit  of  said  recess ; g connected  with  f is  a sort  of  back- 
ing to  the  architrave  g ; k enriched  bead ; h door-jamb ; i 
inside  architrave  ; j door.  If  the  doorsill  is  of  stone,  it 
should  not  extend  from  c to  j,  but  stop  within  half  an  inch 
of  the  door,  in  order  to  admit  a good  securing  through  the 
front  of  the  iron  saddle  to  the  floor,  as  well  as  to  avoid  the 
necessity  of  a broad  saddle. 

Fig.  2.  Elevation  : a plinth  to  architrave  as  in  plan  ; 
c stone  sill ; d brick  wall  ; e architrave ; f enriched  bead. 
The  upper  pannels  are  designed  to  be  finished  with  maho- 
gany sash  and  plate  glass. 

82 


PL.  J. 


AN  ANT JE  FRONT  DOOR. 


Plate  2. 

In  this  is  claimed  the  construction  of  the  inner  ant®,  and 
the  finish  of  the  door,  side-lights,  transom-light,  and  transom 
mouldings,  with  said  ant®,  as  original.  The  whole  construc- 
tion and  relative  connection  of  all  the  parts  will  be  seen  by 
referring-  to  the  sectional  drawings  to  a large  scale,  Plates 
3 and  4. 

Fig.  1.  The  plan  representing  all  parts  associated  with 
the  elevation  referred  to,  and  lettered  thus : a plinth ; b re- 
turn of  plinth  to  doorsill  ;'c  doorsill,  (see  corresponding  let- 
ters on  elevation,)  d brick  wall ; f recess  jamb  ; g a narrow 
architrave  or  facia,  which  is  formed  of  the  same  width  over- 
head ; h a jamb  extending  from  g to  n — this  jamb  is  con- 
nected with  a soffit  or  head-piece  of  the  same  width ; i i 
pannels  under  side-lights  ; j front  of  inner  ant® ; k door- 
jamb and  return,  or  flank  of  ant®  ; l inside  ant® ; m return 
or  flank  of  ant®,  which  likewise  forms  a jamb  to  side-light ; 
n inside  architrave  ; o outside  line  of  the  door ; p inside  of 
door  ; q line  of  wall  finish  ; s plan  of  architrave. 

Fig.  2.  Elevation : a plinth  to  anta,  (see  corresponding 
letters  on  plan  ;)  c doorsill ; g front  of  inner  anta  ; i pannel 
or  back  under  side-light ; j elevation  of  the  outside  ant®. 

84 


PL.  B. 


J*=f| 


[CT 


1 

^ l 

a ' 

L 

L, 

— f1 

/ 

.L 


/’/’</.  1. 


f . 


Plate  3. 


This  is  a section  to  an  enlarged  scale,  showing  the  form 
and  connection  of  the  parts  under  the  side-lights  of  design, 
Plate  2 : a is  the  return  plinth  from  the  plinth  s,  under  the 
side-light  inside  ; b (dotted  line)  plinth  of  anta  between  the 
door  and  side-light.  The  antse  between  the  door  and  side- 
lights, stand  in  advance  of  the  door,  (as  may  be  seen  at  h in 
Plate  4.)  This  projection  is  to  accommodate  the  projection 
of  the  transom  and  its  mouldings,  as  represented  by  the  let- 
ters y'andpy),  Plate  4;  c (dotted  line)  represents  the  plinth 
of  outside  anta  between  the  door  and  side  light ; d face  of 
inside  anta  ; e face  of  outside  anta  between  door  and  side- 
light ; f front  of  architrave,  or  facia,  which  passes  up  both 
sides  and  overhead,  as  c and  s,  Plate  4 ; g inner  extremity 
of  the  architrave,  which  forms  the  finish  of  the  door,  (refer 
to  i and  g , Plate  4,  for  farther  particulars ;)  h h pannel 
under  side-light ; i i bottom  rail  to  back  or  pannel ; j j top 
rail  to  pannel  under  side-light ; k k facia  to  capital ; 1 1 ovolo 
of  capital ; m bottom  rail  and  style  of  side-light  sash  ; n re- 
presents the  inside  shutter.  It  will  be  observed  that  the 
shutter  projects  over  the  pannel,  or  back  under  the  side- 
light, which  is  only  done  to  reduce  the  whole  width  of  the 
work  ; o represents  the  return  jamb  of  the  architrave  from 
g to  h ; p return  jamb  of  outside  architrave  ; r return  plinth 
from  under  side-light  to  front  anta  ; s plinth  under  pannel ; 
t plinth  under  outside  pannel  or  back  ; u part  of  the  recess 
jamb  that  finishes  between  the  architrave  and  stone  anta, 
(see  a and  b,  Plate  4.) 


PL  5 


/ 


DETAILS. 


Plate  4. 

Is  a section  of  the  stone,  brick,  and  wood  work  through 
the  head  of  design,  Plate  2 : a size  of  the  stone  or  outside 
anta ; b jamb  that  finishes  between  the  anta  and  architrave 
c and  s ; c return  or  jamb  of  architrave  ; cl  return  side  of 
anta  ; e front  of  transom.  The  dotted  line  e is  that  part  of 
the  transom  which  projects  over  the  side-light  further  than  it 
does  over  the  door  ; f transom  over  the  door.  Here  it  may  be 
well  to  say  that  the  transom  is  the  width  of  e wider  over  the 
side-light  than  over  the  door  ; g represents  a portion  of  the 
door ; h that  part  of  the  anta  which  stands  in  front  of  the 
door  sufficient  to  receive  the  transom.  The  transom  pro- 
jects over  the  door  on  the  inside  about  § of  an  inch  ; i the 
return  or  jamb  of  the  architrave  g ; j j represents  the  top 
and  bottom  rails  of  the  transom  sash  over  the  side-light ; k k 
top  and  bottom  rails  of  transom  over  the  door ; l head-piece 
(equal  to  the  abacus  and  ovolo  or  echinus  of  the  capital)  in 
which  to  fix  the  transom  sash ; m m (dotted  line)  shows  the 
same  piece  over  the  transom  of  the  side-light;  n style  of  the 
side  transom  sash;  o side  style  of  transom  sash  over  the 
door;  ppp  ovolos  on  transom  over  door  and  side-light;  q 
architrave  that  forms  the  finish  on  the  side  wall,  as  shown 
on  the  plan,  Plate  2 ; r head-piece,  or  soffit,  which  passes 
over  all  the  parts  directly  connected  with  the  side-lights 
and  door.  This  soffit  is  tongued,  grooved,  and  glued  to  s 
and  q,  and  should  be  finished  and  fitted  to  the  jamb  on  the 
back  in  order  to  make  a first  rate  job ; s outside  architrave 
or  facia,  which  finishes  on  both  sides  and  above  ; t soffit  or 

head-piece ; u furring  joist ; w lath  and  plaster ; x x part  of 

88 


89 


two  beams;  y wooden  lintel  to  support  the  brick  over  the 
aperture ; z brick- work  ; 1 stone  blocking  over  the  cornice 
of  the  door-way  ; 2 cornice ; 3 bed  mould;  4 frieze  ; 5 tenia, 
or  upper  fdlet  to  the  architrave  moulding  ; 6 fillet,  or  regula  ; 
7 drops,  or  guttse  ; 8 face  of  architrave  ; 9 capital  of  anta ; 
10  front  line  of  brick. 


DETAILS. 


Plate  5. 


This  plate  represents  one  half  of  the  head  and  architrave 
of  design  Plate  1,  on  an  enlarged  scale,  which  will  enable 
the  student  to  comprehend  the  subject  without  the  least 
difficulty. 

Fig.  1,  is  the  half  head,  and  lettered  as  follows  : A and  B the 
head  and  side  architrave  as  at  g in  Fig.  1,  Plate  1;  d e 
face  of  architrave  as  at  e in  Fig.  1,  Plate  1 ; f relieved 
ovolo ; g corona.  Fig.  2 is  a plan  of  the  architrave  d e 
in  Fig.  1 : a facia  as  at  d in  Fig.  1 ; d return  or  flank  of 
architrave ; b the  outer  margin  of  architrave.  See  e in 
Fig.  1 ; g backing-piece ; c c c plinth  to  architrave.  See  a 
b in  Fig.  I,  Plate  1. 

The  two  different  scales  are  for  the  two  different  figures, 
and  will  give  their  correct  dimensions  when  taken  by  a 
divider. 


CO 


zz  5 


/ 


PARLOR  WINDOW. 
Plate  6. 


Presents  an  original  design  for  a parlor-window  finish ; 
in  which  it  will  he  seen  that  a bead  is  executed  on  the  archi- 
trave, receding  about  § of  an  inch,  which  appears  well ; but 
I am,  at  the  present  time,  executing  the  design  without  the 
bead,  and  give  it  a decided  preference.  It  appears  more 
chaste,  and  is  attended  with  less  labour  in  its  execution. 

Fig.  1.  Elevation.  Fig.  2,  scale  to  Fig.  1.  Fig.  3,  plan 
of  architrave,  plinth,  and  shutters  : a jamb  flap  ; b back  flap ; 
c back  lining ; cl  d cl  plinth,  this  plinth  is  continued  under 
the  elbows  and  back.  Fig.  4,  scale  of  feet  to  Fig.  3. 

The  jamb  shutter  is  in  one  entire  pannel  when  executed 
with  ornaments  at  bottom,  top,  and  middle  of  pannel,  which 
is  the  case  in  those  I am  now  executing. 


92 


rL.6 


SLIDING  DOORS. 


Plate  7. 


This  plate  presents  an  original  design  for  sliding  doors, 
and,  if  executed  in  every  particular  suggested,  would  eclipse 
every  thing  of  the  kind  yet  introduced. 

The  two  middle  doors  are  designed  to  slide  into  the  two 
wall  doors,  which  are  hung  to  the  wall ; and  when  slid  in 
the  wall  door,  they  are  together  turned  around  to  the  wall. 
In  order  that  the  wall  door  shall  not  sag,  a way  is  let  into 
the  floor,  as  shown 'in  Plate  8.  To  the  outer  and  lower  ex- 
tremity of  the  wall  doors  is  fixed  a sheave  crosswise  of  the 
door,  which  will  act  upon  the  circular  way-piece.  And  in 
order  that  the  middle  door  may  slide  into  the  wall  or  hung 
door,  the  floor  is  § of  an  inch  lower  under  that  than  any 
other  part  of  the  floor,  which  will  admit  of  a way  being 
secured  at  the  bottom  for  the  convenience  of  the  middle 
sliding  doors.  The  circular  ways  as  shown  on  the  plan  in 
Plate  8. 

The  doors  are  designed  to  be  executed  with  plate  glass 
in  the  upper  pannels,  which  would  present  a very  striking 
effect. 

The  details  of  this  plate  and  design  follow  in  Plates  8,  9, 
10,  and  1 1.  Plate  9 is  an  entablature  on  an  enlarged  scale. 
Plate  10  is  a plan  and  section  of  the  ceiling  over  the  plan 
Plate  8.  Plate  11  is  the  base  column  and  capital  on  an  en- 
larged scale,  adapted  to  practical  purposes.  The  above,  if 
executed  in  a manner  due  to  the  design,  will  in  effect  rarely 
be  excelled. 


94 


I 


f 


PL.!. 


Plate  8. 


This  plate  represents  a plan  of  the  design  in  Plate  7,  and 
explained  in  the  explanation  of  that  plate.  Nothing  can 
surpass  the  beauty  and  effect  of  this  design  when  correctly 
executed  in  conformity  to  it.  If  at  first  the  execution  may 
be  thought  impracticable,  it  will,  on  a correct  and  careful 
examination,  be  found  quite  otherwise. 


' J If,  P<K[\<C  °1 


r/:.;;. 


CC./’rrf  JJny> 


/ 


DESIGN  FOR  AN  ENTABLATURE. 

Plate  9. 


This  plate  is  a design  for  the  entablature  of  Plate  7,  on 
an  enlarged  scale,  for  practical  purposes. 


98 


PI.  9. 


r ! 

F-  1= 


— Co 


— * 


DESIGN  FOR  A CEILING. 

Plate  10. 

Is  a plan  and  section  of  ceiling-  over  the  sliding  door ; 
plan  in  Plate  8.  Fig.  1,  plan  of  the  ceiling  over  sliding  door  : 
a is  a way  fixed  to  the  beam,  (see  b in  Fig.  2.)  Fig.  2,  sec- 
tion of  Fig.  1 : c is  the  upper  end  of  sliding  doors. 


100 


FL.HK 


nril  t AAA  JUUUA  ia 


ifwrn *rrnit turf ttifit furry " 


Ah  n)  HTjji£urrriTii  jmrn  i~- 


yTO'rmffW'nMn'TTfmy»ff»TTTTTl 


Sa  JLoixmjMMJiJLUJJiimuniM  I 


m.  i 


uiijiixMinnii 


Fif  ll 


9 


o 


DESIGN  FOR  A CAPITAL. 
Plate  11. 


This  is  a design  composed  of  antique  specimens,  and  re- 
duced to  accurate  proportions  ; with  a view  to  render  it 
acceptable  in  many  places,  instead  of  the  standard  orders. 
For  the  entablature  see  Plate  12.  In  many  situations  this 
design  will  be  preferable  to  those  generally  in  use. 


m 


p/.  // 


JO  20  .10  40  SO  SO 


T/ic  Ji/zUre-  7u0a7u  7777 17?  rr/<:7udn/JEti?<r7>7a.7iau  . 


i 


y 


ENTABLATURE. 


Plate  12. 


Entablature  to  Plate  11.  When  this  entablature  is 
executed  with  a pediment,  the  effect  would  be  improved  on 
the  sides  or  flanks  by  discontinuing  the  cymatium  at  a the 
centre  of  the  first  tile  ornament.  It  is  not  intended  that  the 
tile  ornaments  should  be  executed,  if  the  cymatium  be  re- 
turned or  continued  on  the  sides  or  flanks  : b is  the  front  of 
the  water  gutter,  which  stands  behind  the  tile  ornaments 
when  executed. 


m 


7J////Hr‘frJ/\r  srr/tf  •?/-*  7/t.  /ft <//t  ■ 


r?  12 


</ 


* 


/ 


Plate  13. 


This  plate  represents  the  entire  elevation  of  the  partition 
separating  the  front  and  back  parlours.  In  this  elevation 
are  designs  of  sliding  or  folding  doors,  pannels  in  the  side- 
piers,  cornice  and  frieze  in  the  angle,  formed  by  the  ceiling 
and  side  walls.  The  whole  elevation  is  new  in  design,  and 
in  many  instances  may  be  preferred  to  the  antse  or  column 
finish.  In  designing  for  interior  finishings,  and  particularly 
parlours,  the  architect  has  much  to  perform  if  he  wishes  to 
excel,  or  even  compare  with,  those  of  his  profession.  In  this 
elevation,  the  sliding  door  design  presents  original  fixtures, 
and  by  unprejudiced  minds  they  will  be  favourably  received, 
and  in  appropriate  instances  supersede  the  use  of  those 
which  have  been  in  use  so  long,  and  consequently  become 
common  and  not  so  desirable  as  when  first  introduced. 


A/i  *^s wz/jr  *?  f**r 


PI.  13  . 


PARLOUR  ELEVATION. 

Plate  14. 


In  this  is  represented  an  entire  elevation  of  the  side  of 
the  parlonrs  next  the  hall  or  entrance  from  the  front  door. 
This  elevation  is  connected  with  Plate  13.  The  doors  are 
trimmed  in  the  architrave  style,  and  executed  next  the  door 
without  a bead.  The  door  recedes  from  the  face  of  the  ar- 
chitraves, in  order  to  relieve  them  from  the  face  of  the  door. 


108 


PL  14. 


WINDOW  DESIGN. 


Plate  15. 


In  designing  for  parlour  finishing,  the  most  difficult  task  is 
to  produce  a desired  effect,  with  due  proportions  of  enrich- 
ments. In  this,  although  considerably  ornamental,  yet  in 
no  respect  has  it  an  appearance  of  over-rated  or  superfluous 
labour.  The  capitals  of  the  antse  are  of  an  original  charac- 
ter, and  will  equal  any  thing  of  a similar  application  yet  in 
use.  The  capitals,  or  caps,  are  continued  across  the  head 
of  the  window,  under  which  the  shutters  will  stand,  when 
closed  before  the  window ; and  the  cap  will  project  over 
them  the  same  as  it  does  over  the  face  of  the  antse  and  shut- 
ters when  they  are  shut  into  the  box,  and  at  the  same  time 
forms  the  return  sides  or  jambs  of  the  antse,  as  will  be  seen 
in  the  section.  By  this  design  it  will  be  easy  for  the  stu- 
dent to  discover  the  important  effect  produced  by  the  depth 
on  the  return  of  the  antse,  which,  prior  to  the  present  time, 
did  not  exceed  one  and  a half  inches  in  thickness,  which 
certainly  presented  a very  indifferent  effect.  The  follow- 
ing are  the  lettered  references  to  all  the  various  parts:  Fig.  1 
is  an  entire  elevation  of  a window  with  a part  of  the  en- 
tablature directly  over  it.  Fig.  2 is  a section  of  Fig.  1, 
showing  all  the  parts  employed  in  the  finish  and  execution 
of  the  design : a in  Fig.  1 is  a portion  of  the  entablature  ; 
a in  Fig.  2 is  the  piazza  floor;  b stone  sill,  this  sill  forms  a 
common  step  from  the  floor  c of  window  sill ; d bottom 
rail  of  sash  ; e base  to  antse  and  room,  this  base  is  six  inches 
high  ; f the  thickness  of  antse  to  the  shutter-box  ; g shutter, 

this  shutter  is  in  one  entire  piece,  the  back  flap  is  executed 

110 


Ill 


in  two  parts  as  usual ; h return  of  brick-work  to  the  hang- 
ing style  ; i meeting  rail  of  sash ; j marble  or  stone  lintel ; 
k section  of  that  part  of  the  antse  cap  that  passes  over  the 
window  ; l return  of  antse  cap  ; m section  of  the  architrave 
of  the  entablature  ; n frieze  of  entablature ; o bed  mould- 
ings and  dentals  ; p soffit  of  cornice  ; q corona ; r crown 
moulding  of  a relieved  ovolo  ; s lath  and  plaster  of  the  ceil- 
ing ; t floor  of  second  story  ; u lath  and  plaster  of  the  second 
side  wall ; v v sections  of  two  beams  ; w cross  bridgings ; 
x deafening  boards  ; y strips  nailed  on  the  sides  of  the  beams, 
to  support  the  deafening  board ; x z is  a section  of  a 4 x 1£ 
piece  of  hard  wood  running  the  wdrole  extent  of  the  Avail  or 
partition;  1 pocket-piece  that  raises  up  with  the  lowermost 
sash  into  the  groove  ; 2 the  second  story  stud  ; 3 the  first  story 
stud,  this  stud  or  post  disappears  behind  the  window  finish  ; 
4 cross  furring  to  form  the  window  soffit ; 5 wooden  lintel, 
over  which  a brick  arch  is  turned  to  take  the  wall  from  the  mar- 
ble or  stone  lintel,  j ; 6 wooden  lintel,  over  which  is  a brick 
arch  to  take  the  weight  of  the  wall,  and  to  form  a recess 
for  the  pocket  or  groove  to  receive  the  sash  when  raised  to 
admit  a passage  from  the  parlour  to  the  piazza  ; 7 brick 
wall ; 8 blank  space  ; 9 pocket  on  the  head  of  the  window- 
frame  to  receive  the  lower  sash.  In  the  soffit  or  head-piece 
of  the  window  there  will  be  executed  a pocket-piece  the 
thickness  of  the  sash,  which  will  have  a short  tenon  on  each 
end,  and  which  are  to  slide  up  in  grooves  prepared  for  the 
purpose ; when  the  sash  comes  in  contact  with  it,  or  is 
lowered  down,  it  will  follow  it  until  it  descends  to  its  proper 
place;  10  bracket  for  lathing  to;  11  top  rail  to  sash;  12 
section  of  head-piece  to  hanging  style  ; 13  hanging  style. 


ANTAE  BASE  AND  CAPITAL. 


Plate  16. 


The  antge  base  and  capital  here  represented,  are  designed 
at  a half-size  scale,  intended  as  a working  drawing  for  Plate 
15.  The  base  in  this  design  is  much  lower  than  the  usual 
height  of  parlour  bases,  which  may  by  some  be  condemned ; 
but  after  wisely  examining  the  matter,  it  will  be  acknow- 
ledged that  no  architectural  reasons  can  be  assigned  for  its 
being  any  higher,  but  both  utility  and  effect  must  be  con- 
ceded, in  an  architectural  point  of  view,  in  favour  of  the  pro- 
portions here  represented ; a in  the  anta3  capital  represents 
a section  of  the  moulding. 


Yl 


FL 16 


n 


DETAILS. 


Plate  17. 


In  this  plate  are  illustrated  all  the  particulars  necessary 
to  render  the  execution  of  the  window  design,  Plate  15, 
intelligible  to  the  understanding  of  every  workman. 

The  parts  that  are  most  difficult  to  comprehend  in 
Architecture,  can  no  way  be  attained  to,  as  readily  as 
by  plans  and  sectional  drawings,  which  in  this  plate  are 
fully  set  forth  and  explained.  It  contains  a plan  of  the 
brick  wall,  window  frame,  inside  shutters,  shutter  box,  and 
a part  of  the  inside  architrave,  and  also  a section  of  the 
stone  sill,  wooden  sill,  the  different  parts  in  the  window 
frame,  and  an  elevation  and  section  of  the  base  and  anta. 
The  following;  are  the  references  to  the  different  figures  and 
letters  : Fig.  1 represents  a plan  of  the  brick  wall,  window 
frame,  shutters,  box,  and  architrave:  a a brick  wall;  b 
hanging  style  ; c outside  lining,  and  outside  stop  bead  ; d 
pulley  style  ; e back  lining  to  window  frame  ; g inside  lining ; 
v inside  stop  bead ; x inside  and  bottom  sash ; f parting 
bead;  w groove  for  uppermost  and  outside  sash;  cfi  box  for 
sash  weights.  The  following  are  the  letters  for  the  parts 
employed  in  the  shutters,  shutter  box,  &c.  : y bed  for  the 
shutter  when  closed  on  the  window  ; z z z projection  of  the 
fillet  of  the  base,  (see  u u in  Fig.  2 ;)  /’style  of  jamb  shutter  ; 
t sunk  pannel  of  shutter;  k bead  and  butt  pannel ; m style 
of  jamb  shutter ; n style  of  llap  shutter ; o bead  and  butt 
pannel  of  flap  shutter  ; p outside  style  of  flap  shutter  ; r sunk 
pannel;  s s style  of  back  lining ; j pannel  of  back  lining ; 
v inside  architrave.  The  piece  on  the  back  of  the  archi- 


114 


115 


trave,  near  the  No.  22,  is  glued  or  otherwise  fitted  to  the 
architrave,  to  give  it  a sufficient  projection  from  the  wrall, 
against  which  this  piece  lies  ; and  is  represented  by  the 
short  line  extending  on  to  Fig.  2. 

Fig.  2 : a brick  jamb,  (see  a in  Fig.  1 ;)  b hanging  style  ; 
(see  b Fig.  1 ;)  c outside  stop  bead,  (see  c Fig.  1 ;)  d groove 
for  outside  sash,  (see  w Fig.  1 ;)  e parting  bead,  (see  f Fig. 
1 ;)  f inside  sash,  (see  x Fig.  1 ;)  g inside  stop  bead,  (see  v 
in  Fig.  1 ;)  o thickness  of  jamb  shutter  when  closed  on  the 
window,  (see  y Fig.  1 ;)  p p inside  shutter,  and  likewise 
serves  as  a side  or  flank  to  the  anta.  The  p on  the  extre- 
mity of  the  return  of  the  anta  represents  the  side  of  the 
anta  when  the  shutters  are  folded  over  the  window  ; r repre- 
sents the  elevation  of  the  base  ; w the  section  of  the  base  ; 
u u the  projection  of  the  fillet  of  the  base  past  the  anta 
and  shutter,  both  when  in  the  anta,  and  when  closed  over 
the  window ; s represents  the  plinth  under  the  base  mould- 
ings ; w floor  line  ; m the  height  of  stone  sill  and  thickness 
of  piazza  floor,  j under  the  sill  is  the  thickness  of  the  piazza 
floor,  and  in  front  represents  the  front  thickness  of  sill ; 
k is  the  difference  between  the  height  of  the  parlour  and 
piazza  floors  ; l underside  of  piazza  floor ; i section  of  stone 
silL 


DETAILS. 


Plate  18. 


The  details  described,  are  drawn  to  an  enlarged  scale  for 
the  pannels  in  Plate  15,  but  will  be  applicable  in  various 
situations.  The  designs  are  original,  and  designed  and 
drawn  by  C.  L.  Bell,  Architect. 


110 


PL.18. 


PARLOR  DOOR. 


Plate  19.' 


This  design  is  original  and  appropriate  for  parlours  of  the 
first  class.  The  composition  is  novel  and  judiciously 
arranged,  and  in  no  instance  where  elegance  is  required 
would  it  fail  to  produce  a chaste  and  elegant  effect. 

Tire  workmen  in  making  preparations,  and  through  the 
whole  execution  of  this  design,  must  pay  particular  atten- 
tion to  the  neatness  and  perfection  of  all  the  parts  engaged, 
in  order  to  render  it  more  perfect. 

The  plan  of  the  door  jamb  is  moulded  with  a neat  ogee 
moulding,  which  will  present  it  more  chaste  and  acceptable 
to  classic  observers.  In  order  to  make  it  useful  in  practice, 
it  is  thought  necessary  to  accompany  it  with  the  details  in 
working  drawings,  which  are  illustrated  at  large  and  explain- 
ed in  Plate  20. 

Note. — The  present  and  former  custom  of  executing  high  skirtings  and  bases  in 
parlours  being  fixed  in  the  minds  of  almost  every  workman  as  unavoidably  necessary, 
it  may  be  well  to  remark,  (notwithstanding  the  treatises  in  favour  of  such  proportions, 
that  no  one  branch  of  finishing  more  requires  a reform  from  the  old  school  system. 
The  writer  is  aware  of  the  prejudices  against  new  designs  in  the  architectural  de- 
partment ; he  nevertheless  resolves  to  carry  into  effect,  as  far  as  his  abilities  will 
permit,  a change  in  designs  and  proportions  of  interior  finishings  for  private  resi- 
dences. He  would  therefore  recommend  to  those  concerned,  to  duly  consider  all 
subjects  of  the  above  importance,  prior  to  the  execution  thereof. 

118 


PI.  J'V 


L 


SCALE 


WORKING  DETAILS  TO  PLATE  19. 


Plate  20. 


Fig.  1 represents  the  plans  of  the  studs,  lath  and  plaster, 
architrave,  door  jamb,  plinth,  and  door,  which  are  thus 
described,  viz.  : a a a plinths ; b architrave  ; c c mouldings 
to  door  jamb;  d door  jamb;  e door;  ff  thickness  of  lath 
and  plaster ; g g studs  or  joists ; li  space  between  studs  ; i 
backing  of  architrave  ; j j front  line  of  plaster. 

Fig.  2,  profile  of  architrave  and  cornice ; a crown  mould- 
ing ; b corona  ; c soffit,  or  plancer  of  cornice  ; d bed  mould  ; 
e outer  facia  of  architrave  ; f inside  facia. 

Fig.  3,  ornament  across  the  door  head,  (see  Plate  19.) 


130 


PI.  20 


Pu// . 3 . 


£ J 4 S O' 7 S C JO 

SC  JUJU  ON  INCHES 


DESIGN  FOR  A CENTRE  FLOWER. 


Plate  21. 


The  design  presented  is  original,  and  appropriate  to  par- 
lours of  the  first  class.  It  may  be  varied  in  size  to  accom- 
modate many  situations. 


122 


/V  IV. 


ANTA  AND  ENTABLATURE. 

Plate  22. 


Is  a miniature  drawing  of  an  anta  and  entablature,  given 
to  show  the  comparative  heights  and  proportions,  and  to 
reduce  it  to  a scale  of  minutes  for  operative  purposes.  The 
numbers  are  figured  the  same  as  in  the  details  of  Plates  23 
and  24.  Fig.  1 is  the  anta  and  entablature.  Fig.  2,  an 
enriched  egg-moulding  to  an  enlarged  scale,  but  does  not 
belong  with  the  above  anta. 


* 


ANTA  DETAILS. 


Plate  23. 


The  details  of  this  plate  are  half  full  size,  and  reduced  to 
a scale  of  minutes,  in  order  to  render  it  intelligible  to  the 
student,  for  practice.  This  anta  bears  resemblance  to  the 
anta  employed  in  the  Choragic  Monument  at  Athens,  yet  it 
materially  differs  therefrom  in  the  contours  and  proportions 
of  the  details.  The  projections  are  figured  from  the  centre. 
The  letter  H at  the  top  of  the  columns  represents  height, 
and  P projection. 

The  base  mouldings  are  well  adapted  in  form  and  propor- 
tion for  parlours. 

N.  B. — The  termination  of  the  base,  which  is  a bevel,  is 
figured  one  and  a half  minutes  high,  but  should  have  been 
one  half  only. 


126 


TL  23 


h r 


v //te  it// e/e  dtsintt/ei- ?///{(  tt/Maf 


V 


ANTA  ENTABLATURE  DETAILS. 

Plate  24. 

The  architrave  guttse,  or  drops,  are  formed  in  two  lengths 
and  projections.  The  longest  guttse,  or  drops,  may  be  either 
round  or  square ; but  the  shortest  row  will  be  square,  and 
project  to  the  centre  of  the  round  guttse.  The  projections 
are  figured  from  the  centre,  as  in  Plate  23. 


198 


nineties  . > fi  reel  . 


% 


SLIDING  DOOR  DESIGN. 


Plate  25. 


This  design  is  original  in  its  features,  and  may  be  classed 
with  the  richest  compositions  of  the  present  style  of  finishing. 
It  may  be  remarked,  with  propriety,  that  many  attempts 
have  been  made  to  introduce  appropriate  and  elegant  finish- 
ing, that  might  be  executed  without  connecting  it  with  the 
cornice  of  the  room,  which  in  this  case  is  effected,  and  may 
in  various  situations  be  preferable  to  column  or  anta  when 
the  architrave  and  frieze  are  terminated  between  the  walls. 
The  plan  and  elevation  are  shown  entire  at  Figs.  I and  2. 
Fig.  1,  elevation;  Fig.  2,  the  plan. 


I3fl 


PL.  id. 


€ 


DETAILS  OF  SLIDING  DOORS.  PL.  25. 


Plate  26. 


These  details  are  drawn  to  an  enlarged  scale,  bj  which 
the  proportions  and  forms  are  distinctly  shown,  and  by 
which  the  workman  may  be  instructed  to  execute  with 
a degree  of  correctness  necessary  to  produce  the  required 
effect.  The  drawing,  as  shown,  represents  the  semi-eleva- 
tion of  the  door-head,  connected  with  a portion  of  the  side 
elevation : a represents  the  centre  of  the  column ; b eleva- 
tion of  the  architrave,  (see  b b in  the  design,  PI.  25  ;)  e,  the 
dotted  line,  represents  the  extremity  of  the  column. 


132 


7 1’M./J.  Swift. 


.* 


DETAILS  OF  SLIDING  DOORS. 


Plate  27. 


In  order  that  the  student  may  be  furnished  with  neces- 
sary instructions,  which  will  enable  him  systematically  to 
carry  these  designs  into  execution,  the  details  are,  in  this 
and  the  two  following  plates,  given  on  an  enlarged  scale, 
with  all  the  parts  figured  and  referred  to  in  the  following 
explanations. 

Fig.  1 represents  the  plan  with  the  studdings,  base,  boxing 
for  the  door,  the  door  in  the  box,  and  the  columns  ; a a Fig.  1, 
plan  of  columns  ; b facia  back  of  column,  (see  a in  Fig.  1, 
Plate  25  ;)  c return  or  flank  of  g in  Fig.  2 ; d face  of 
architrave,  (see  g in  elevation,  Fig.  2 \)f  margin  or  band, 
(see  f in  elevation,  Fig.  2 ;)  g lath  and  plaster,  and  likewise 
grounds;  h regulating  bead  to  the  door;  i doorjamb;  j j j 
studs  ; k k k spaces  between  the  studs  which  requires  pieces 
worked  in  at  about  two  feet  apart  for  nailing  to  ; l plan  of 
door  when  slid  on  the  box ; m represents  the  partitions, 
door,  &c.,  as  broken  off  within  the  full  extent.  Fig.  2,  a 
broken  elevation  of  the  base,  architrave,  facia  between  the 
architrave  and  columns,  and  the  column  ; a the  base,  and  a 
small  portion  of  the  column ; b plinth  under  the  architrave  ; 
c d e base  mouldings  of  the  room  ; f band  or  margin  of  the 
architrave  ; g facia  of  the  architrave  ; o represents  the  way- 
piece. 


134 


% 


SECTION  O.VER  SLIDING  DOORS. 


Plate  28. 


This  section  represents  all  parts  employed  in  cornicing, 
furring,  and  finishing  over  the  doors,  and  are  designated  by 
the  terms,  viz.  : a a facia  of  the  architrave  on  which  the  or- 
naments are  applied  over  the  door ; b b soffit  over  the  door ; 
c c regulating  beads  for  the  doors,  (see  h in  Plate  27  ;)  d be- 
tween the  regulating  beads,  represents  the  groove  formed  for 
the  door  to  slide  in  ; d d on  the  two  extremes  represent  the 
border  or  margin  of  the  architrave  ; e e bed  mould ; f f 
corona  upon  which  the  ornament  is  executed ; g the  centre 
ornament ; h h facia  or  frieze  of  the  cornice  around  the 
room,  which  is  of  plaster ; i i bed  mould ; j dental,  (see 
Plates  30  and  31;)  h anta,  or  intermediate  dentals,  (see 
Plates  30  and  31  ;)  l ornamental  bead,  (see  Plates  30  and 
31  ;)  m m corona  of  stucco  cornice  in  the  angle  of  the  ceil- 
ing and  side  wall ; n n crown  moulding ; o o ceiling  of  the 

room  ; p y p p section  of  furring  ; q q q q studding,  or  joists. 

6 


DETAILS. 


Plate  29. 


Fig.  1 represents  a section  of  parts  of  the  styles  and  pan- 
nels  of  the  sliding  doors  on  an  enlarged  scale  ; a a a portion 
of  the  two  styles  ; b b thickest  part  of  the  pannels,  or  that 
part  which  forms  the  outer  margin  ; c c the  inner  recess  or 
pannel,  the  entire  elevation  of  which  may  he  seen  in  the  de- 
sign, PL  25.  Fig.  2,  a parlour  base  on  an  enlarged  scale  : 
b represents  a furring  piece  behind  the  plinth;  a represents 
the  wall  line. 


J33 


/V.  22. 


S CA  7,  E 


t 


EXTERIOR  EAVE  CORNICE. 


Plate  30. 


This  design  consists  of  bold  and  prominent  members,  dis- 
posed of  in  a manner  that  will  not  fail  to  produce  an  imposing 
effect  in  any  situation.  It  has  proportions  adapted  to  a three- 
story  house ; consequently,  if  required  higher  or  lower,  a 
variation  accordingly  will  be  required : a represents  the 
frieze  ; b a piece  put  on  the  back  of  the  frieze,  to  make  the 
projection  about  two  inches  from  the  face  of  the  brick  wall ; 
c should  have  set  back  of  b,  and  represented  the  brick  wall. 
By  the  projections  over  the  head  of  the  plate,  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  whole  projects  eighteen  inches  from  the  face  of  the 
brick  wall,  and  sixteen  inches  from  the  face  of  the  frieze. 


140 


Plate  31. 


This  example  has  neither  the  proportions  nor  general  fea- 
tures of  the  antique  Ionic  order,  nor  is  it  pretended  that  it  is 
in  general  equal  to  it ; but  it  is  hoped  that  it  may  not  be 
wholly  inferior.  The  general  proportions  are  as  below 
described,  viz. : 

The  whole  height  of  the  column,  base,  and  capital,  is  eight 
diameters ; and  the  whole  height  of  the  entablature  is  three 
diameters  and  five  minutes ; and  the  whole  entire  height  of 
the  order,  including  base,  shaft,  capital,  frieze,  and  cornice,  is 
eleven  diameters  and  five  and  a half  minutes.  For  the  pro- 
portions of  the  capital,  see  Plate  32,  which  is  designed  for  a 
working  drawing. 


DETAILS  OF  IONIC  CAPITAL. 


Plate  32. 


This  capital  is  not  of  any  particular  specimen  of  antique 
productions,  but  partakes  of  several,  as  well  as  of  fancy. 
The  composition  is  a departure  from  the  strict,  perfect,  and 
arbitrary  rules  of  design.  Notwithstanding,  it  will  be  admit- 
ted that  it,  as  a modern  combination  of  parts,  jmesents  rather 
a pleasing  effect. 

Fig.  1 presents  the  abacus,  volute,  echinus,  bead,  the  suc- 
cle  and  lotus,  necking  ornament,  and  the  heads  of  flutes 
which  are  banded,  or  headed  with  an  astragle,  as  at  b.  Fig.  2, 
section  of  capital,  Fig.  1.  The  quarter  circle  on  the  left 
of  the  plate,  and  represented  by  the  small  letter  a,  is  a rule 
by  which  the  spiral  beads  that  revolve  round  the  eye  are  pro- 
portioned, and  is  performed  thus  : Take  the  whole  dimen- 
sions of  the  beads  that  are  horizontal,  under  the  abacus,  and 
describe  a quarter  circle  ; which  circle  divide  into  sixteen 
parts,  and  each  part  on  the  right  line  will  give  a correct  dimi- 
nish for  each  quarter,  as  it  revolves  around  the  eye.  The 
revolutions  of  the  spirals  are  produced  as  follows  : Divide  the 
eye,  which  is  seven  minutes  from  out  to  out  of  the  hem,  and 
six  and  a half  minutes  within  the  hem  of  said  eye,  into  the 
number  of  parts  shown  in  the  eye  ; then  take  the  distances 
figured  on  the  right  lines,  which  are  the  number  of  minutes 
required,  and  revolve  the  dividers  ; the  quarters,  as  described 
by  the  dotted  lines. 

The  method  of  describing  this  volute,  was  invented  and 
reduced  to  practice  by  Mr.  James  H.  Daken,  whose  talents, 
taste,  and  ideas,  are  of  the  first  order,  and  by  the  writer  held 
in  very  high  estimation. 

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IONIC  DETAILS. 


Plate  33. 

These  details  are  introduced  in  order  to  give  the  operative 
workman  a general  view  of  the  construction  of  this  simple 
and  beautiful  capital.  The  details  here  given  are  precisely 
the  same  as  they  were  in  the  original  temple.  The  elevation 
of  the  volute,  as  represented  by  Fig.  2,  is  figured  in  feet  and 
inches,  as  taken  on  the  spot  at  the  temple  by  Messrs.  Stuart 
and  Revett.  Fig.  1 represents  a general  plan  of  the  angular 
capital,  and  is  figured  by  the  scale  of  minutes,  as  at  Plate  32. 
Fig.  5 represents  a section  of  the  flank.  Fig.  4,  a section 
through  the  volute,  the  same  as  Fig.  2 in  Plate  32,  and  is  not 
figured.  Fig.  3 represents  an  elevation  of  the  flank,  the  pro- 
jections of  which  are  figured  on  the  under  side  of  Fig.  5. 


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FROM  THE  ERECTHEION  TEMPLE. 


Plate  34. 

Fig.  1,  plan  of  the  angular  capital.  Fig.  2,  side  elevation, 
or  profile  of  the  capital.  Fig.  3,  section  of  capital.  Fig.  4, 
elevation  of  antse  capital. 


148 


/ 1,  J / 


4 


FROM  THE  ERECT H ETON  TEMPLE. 


Plate  35. 

This  plate  represents  the  front  and  side  elevation  of  a 
eargatides.  Fig.  1,  side  or  profile  view.  Fig.  2,  front  eleva- 
tion. For  the  peculiar  character,  refer  to  the  historical 
description. 


151 


DETAILS  OF  CARYATIDAE  PANDROSEION. 


TI. 


FROM  THE  ERECHT  H E I ONI, 


THE  PARTHENON  AT  ATHENS. 


Plate  36. 


The  elevation  exhibited  in  this  example  is  simple,  beauti- 
ful, rich,  and  unquestionably  the  most  perfect  of  any  building 
of  antiquity.  The  reader,  for  an  historical  view,  will  refer 
as  in  the  preceding  plate. 


152 


ELEVATION  OF  THE  TEMPLE  OF  MINERVA  PARTHENON. 


/*/,  Jh 


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GRECIAN  ARCHITECTURE 


GREEK  TEMPLES. 


Plate  37. 


The  plans  here  introduced  are,  for  the  purpose  of  stimu- 
lating the  rising  generation  to  a correct  taste,  of  severe  and 
perfect  elegance  of  architecture.  The  different  plans  are  to 
distinguish  the  different  names  originating  out  of  the  differ- 
ent  number  of  columns  employed.  For  particulars  refer  to 
definitions  of  terms. 


154 


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THE  PARTHENON  AT  ATHENS. 


Plate  38. 


Fig.  1,  a perspective  view.  Fig.  2,  a 
view.  Fig.  3,  a longitudinal  or  side  view. 


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IONIC  DETAILS. 
Plate  39. 


'The  details  here  presented  are  from  the  temple  of  Minerva 
Polias,  which  constitute  one  of  the  porticoes  of  the  Erectheion 
temple  at  Athens. 


158 


/'//  I.') 


» 


IONIC  DETAILS. 


Plate  40. 


Fig.  1,  entablature  to  the  preceding-  Plate  39.  Fig.  2,  base, 
as  in  Plate  39.  Fig.  3,  antee  base  to  Fig.  4 in  Plate  34. 
Fig.  4,  architrave  moulding  to  an  enlarged  scale.  Fig.  5, 
bed  moulding  to  an  enlarged  scale. 


100 


/V.  40. 


GRECIAN 


ARCHITECTURE. 


Plate  41. 


This  Plate  presents  a detail  drawing  of  the  Doric  order, 
from  the  Temple  of  Minerva,  at  Athens  ; for  a description  of 
which,  refer  to  the  History  of  the  Temples.  The  parts  in 
height  and  projections  are  tigured  by  a scale  of  minutes. 


162 


DORIC  ORDER  FROM  THE  TEMPLE  OF  MINERVA  AT  ATHENS. 


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DETAILS  OF  THE  DORIC  CAPITAL. 


Plate  42. 


Fig.  1,  plan  of  column  at  the  neck.  Fig.  2,  semi-elevation 
of  the  capital.  Fig.  3,  section  of  fillets,  flute,  and  groove  ; 
a depth  of  the  flute.  It  may  be  useful  to  the  operative  work- 
man to  remark  that  the  flutes  require  to  be  worked  up  to  the 
lowermost  fillet  entire. 


PL  .42. 


CORINTHIAN  COLUMN  AND  CAPITAL. 


Plate  43. 


From  the  monument  of  Lysicrates.  Fig.  1,  column,  base, 
and  capital.  Fig.  2,  section  of  capital ; for  historical  descrip- 
tion, refer  to  the  preceding  historical  extracts. 


106 


4 


ENTABLATURE. 


Plate  44. 


Entablature  to  Plate  43.  This  entablature  is  drawn  to  the 
same  scale  as  43,  and  the  dimensions  are  figured  from  the 
centre  of  the  column. 


168 


PL. 4 4. 


DETAILS. 


Plate  45. 


In  this  Plate  is  exhibited  a cornice,  which  is  designed  to 
explain  the  method  of  working  the  inclined  cymatium  to  mitre 
with  the  level  cymatium.  Fig.  1 represents  the  level  mould- 
ing, and  Fig.  2 the  inclined  moulding.  To  form  Fig.  2,  first 
draw  ordinate  lines,  as  at  1 1,  2 2,  and  3 3,  in  Fig.  1,  from 
which  on  the  contour  of  the  moulding  transfer  the  distances 
1 1,  2 2,  3 3,  and  so  on  to  1 1,  2 2,  3 3,  in  Fig.  2 ; which  will, 
when  traced,  produce  the  cymatium  required  to  mitre  with 
the  level  cymatium,  Fig.  1. 


170 


TL. . 4 r> . 


- 


/ 


Plate  46. 


Fig.  1,  a truss  chimney-piece,  for  either  wood  or  marble. 
Fig.  2,  profile,  showing  the  projections  of  the  different  parts. 
Fig.  3,  plan  of  the  pilaster,  jamb,  &c.  Fig.  4,  elevation  of  an 
architrave  piece.  Fig.  5,  profile  of  Fig.  4.  Fig.  6,  plan  of 
Fig.  4. 


PL. 46 . 


Fi£.£>.  Fi&.4. 


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J 


PULPIT. 


Plate  47. 


Fig.  1,  plan  of  Pulpit;  Fig.  2,  elevation;  Fig.  3,  caping, 
half  full  size  ; Fig.  4,  base,  half  full  size. 


]74 


PL. -17. 


If  7? 


\ 


GALLERY 


FRONT. 


Plate  48. 


Fig.  1 elevation  of  gallery  front,  showing  all  the  parts  of 
the  gallery,  and  one  capital  of  a column.  Fig.  2,  section  of 
Fig.  1.  Fig.  3,  elevation  of  two  pews. 


176 


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GETTY  CENTER  LIBRARY 

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